Phoenix Ascension
by Porthos112
Summary: A year after Phoenix mountain Ranma flees Nerima to try and get his life in order. Pity that chaos walks in his shadow. Mostly resolved fiancee problems, but nothing has really changed, just the names. Chapter sixteen up, 'Enter the Kitsune' whadaaaahhh
1. Chapter 1

Okay, I'd like to say hi to all the people who read this fanfic. As its my first I'll introduce myself, my name is Craig and I live down-under(Australia). I've read a lot of fanfics in the last year, and finally thought I'd like to give it a try. I would appreciate all C&C, but as many people say, don't flame me if you don't like what I write. At least tell me why you don't like it. All characters will be a little out of character, this is due to the fact that people do change, they mature, they enter new and exciting challenges, thats whats gonna happen here. I have to say the OOC will get worse as the fanfic goes on. The plans for this story are tentative but at the rate its going this is gonna be epic size, so I hope I can get a good flow of chapters going.

Let me tell you a little about the fanfic.

Okay as for timeline, its one year since jusendo, so Ranma and Akane are 18 and in their final year of school. yada-yada Saffrons dead, wedding attempts failed three, though each time Nabiki earns more off selling invitations than the weddings cost, so that's no real loss. Nabiki is starting her second year at Tokyo U, Soun, Genma and Nodoka are still living at the Tendo dojo, as is Kasumi. Truly the only thing that has really changed is Ranma, who has been conviced by Kasumi, Nabiki and Nodoka that he needs to take his education seriously, they just don't know how seriously he's taken it. I'm not sure how long the fanfic will be, it's fairly open ended at this stage. I know one thing, I'm not going to say its going to be a certain length and then renege on that. At this point there are tentatively twelve chapters, but that's only the start, and does not cover the whole story, its like one of those tv ads, you know the ones, they go "But wait, theres more! if you act..." Its just I don't want the story set in concrete at this stage, I like a story that's fluid, and like fluid in the story, you don't always know what its gonna do. Or at least I hope I can keep a certain sense of suspense.

The next paragraph contains no spoilers, it is a dissertation on the nature of the Phoenix. Ranma may, and probably will not for decades realise that he is changed.

Oh yeah, I better let you know what it's called, and maybe a little of the reasons why. The working title is 'Phoenix Ascension'. The reason for phoenix in the title has very little to do with Saffron, it has to do with the phoenix itself. This gets a little confusing in my head so I hope you can follow this. The phoenix is a creature (spirit) that attaches to a strong host as a survival tactic, now its not a parasite as a parasite takes and gives nothing in return. Its a, oh damn I forgot the term(happily someone clued me in and told me it's a symbiote), its a creature that gives something to its host even as it takes what it needs(in this case survival). In itself it's a fairly weak creature, but its ability is to open up the true potential of its host. Now that I wrote that down it seems to extend the survival ability of itself but its still giving something good to the host so it's still not a parasite. Now Saffron is still a phoenix, it didn't jump ship as it were. It's another survival tactic, find a host that can beat your present host and lay a metaphysical egg in the winners mind. Sounds icky, but its not really, it has no dimensions its more of an energy package, so it doesn't push things aside, and it takes no control of its host. It's more that the phoenix is using the host as a vehicle, something like a hot-air balloon i.e. the host goes where it wants and the passengers just enjoy the ride. Now as it lays an egg its not really apparent at the beginning of the fic what's happening.

I'm a little tired of the whole disclaimer thing so I brought in a professional disclaimer for the duration of this fic. Okay 'Disclaimer Boy' get out there and give it all you got.

Uh right, and ah like he said I don't, like own any of the characters in this here fic. Oh crud, thats he don't own them. He ain't got nothing worth sueing him for, so don't bother. The characters are owned by the ever masterful Rumiko Takahashi, and any of those big companies that put out her works. Yeah and I think that covers all that jazz. So like 'Disclaimer Boy' away. (Sounds of footsteps running off)

"That's right 'Disclaimer Boy' you just keep running, and don't come back. You ain't never gonna work in this fic again."

All C&C, is welcome it allows me to fix holes in my plotline. Please review my modest efforts.(heh heh heh)

Prologue

"I have to say, I never thought I'd return to Nerima. In all these years I hoped against hope that I could forget the time I spent here. It was a hell-hole for me, my own personal nightmare. But I have promises to keep. They're not my promises, they never were, but I choose to keep them all the same."

"Ahhhh. I see by the look on your face you don't recognise me. My apologies for that oversight. I once was told that it was rude not to introduce myself before asking the same. My name is Ranma, Saotome Ranma. Yes, yes I know, I don't sound like Ranma. Then did, you really expect me not to change in thirty or more years? Curse not withstanding of course. No, that last year in Nerima started to change me. I mean, I was nearly married to Akane, I was exploited by Nabiki, my father, my mother, Tendo Soun, hmmmm, I could keep listing the people who wanted my skin in one form or another, but it sums up as everyone wanting a piece of me. Oh, did I mention that I killed a God? Or maybe he was a Demi-God, I've never been sure which He was. As if it matters now. That was the Phoenix King Saffron, of course being a phoenix means I didn't really kill him, he was reborn from his ashes. All of this happened and more. Nerima was never a tame place, hell I'm not sure if it was a sane place, you couldn't tell from the actions of the citizens. Then again maybe you could. Later in the year I became a little like a phoenix myself, my world turned to ash, and I chose to resurrect myself, to rebuild, and for the first time to shape my own destiny."

"You ask how I did this, hold on a second while I find my journals. My father never knew I kept one, he would have lectured me that keeping a diary was too much of a girly thing, of course in the last few years we had contact he would have been right for quite a bit of the time. Here it is..." Phhhhffeuuuhhh a small cloud of dust is blown into the air and swirls around the diminutive figure..

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"Phoenix Ascension"

Chapter 1

**Council of WAR!**

The main room of the Tendo home was bathed in the light from a glorious blood red sunset. It had turned Ranma's dark hair almost the same colour as his female forms. His intensely blue eyes never wavered from his latest enemy. The Tendo family sat across the low table, while the last remnants of the Saotome Clan bracketed him on either side. No one was smiling, but then Kasumi had just left to make some tea. When she returned there might be one smile, maybe...

"It seems that neither of you are taking your engagement to the other very seriously children." Was Soun's opening salvo. Akane frowned, 'It's all Ranmas' fault, he won't take me seriously, not to mention his harem.' She glanced at the offending party to see how he was taking it.

"Yes, you have brought great dishonor to the family." Genma pitched in. Now it was Ranma's turn to frown.

"Who are you to talk of honour Pops, lets face it, ya ain't got none yerself!"

"But daddy... How am I supposed to marry that pervert over there?"

"I tol' you before. I ain't a pervert, you un-cute tom..." Ranma never got to finish that sentence. Anyone care to hazard a guess as to why. The hammer strike didn't quite have the desired effect though.

"You must be losing your form Sis. You used to put Ranma through the floor. I think its better this way though. We don't even need to call a builder." Nabiki smirked at her younger sister.

Sure enough the blow had rattled his teeth, but the rest had been absorbed when Ranma had moved his head with the blow, and then twisted, redirecting it into his father, who sat there looking unfazed for a moment before toppling to the side. Soun winced, then gave his youngest a reproving look.

"Daughter, we are trying to have a serious family discussion here. Please refrain from doing that again."

"Sorry daddy." Akane's skin turned pink in embarrassment.

"Thanks Tendo-San!" Ranma smiled at the Tendo's patriarch

"Alright, as it seems Genma won't be joining us for awhile, I'll have to take over, Son. As you know since your father left on that training trip with you, the Clans honour has been besmirched too many times to count. I have tried to handle all the financial debts, but there are limits to what I can achieve."

"So where do I come in mother?"

"Let me spell it out for you then. Clan Saotome's coffers are finally exhausted. There is no longer any way to avoid the fall out from your fathers greed. Our creditors have moved from politely worded messages, to the threat of arbitration. Some even wish to bring it to the courtroom. As you now know the only satisfaction they could have doing this is to totally destroy what's left of our Clans tattered honour."

"Maybe if we sold the panda to a zoo we could pay the debts." Ranma smirked at the idea. Nabiki smiled like a shark as she thought of the commission she'd receive if she brokered the deal.

"That is not funny Ranma."

"Who said I was joking mother? If the old man is left around it seems to me he'll just keep building the debt. If that happens it doesn't matter what we decide to do. He'll drag all our plans and us into the gutter." Nabiki blinked once or twice, then banged the flat of her hand against her ear to make sure they were working properly, as that had sounded like an intelligent statement.

Ranma looked her in the eye and then winked for good measure.

"So again, what's this got to do with the engagements?"

"Maybe I can shed some light on it for you. Thanks to me the Tendo Clan is highly solvent. But that is coming to an end. As I have left school, I have also left behind the activities that earned all that money. Things that could be overlooked in a minor will not be tolerated in an adult. And as such that would mean prison time. This would again be an undesirable situation. The only way for our Clan to continue financially is to re-open the dojo to students. This is where the problems begin, due to Japanese law the inheritance laws kick in, and the taxes due would be massive. If you look at all the homes around us you would see that they are all about one tenth the size of our compound, land prices here are so exorbitant that only corporations could afford to buy this much land. That increases the taxes beyond our reach. The second problem is that father, while he was highly skilled, has left the art for almost ten years. His skills are rusty now, and to be honest we could not in faith ask anyone to train under him untill his skill is re-honed." Soun winced at his daughters' brutal honesty.

"though it wounds me to admit it, Nabiki is right."

"There is however a way to sidestep the taxes that would be due. And that is to..."

"No let me guess. That would be to make it the dowry of one of the Tendo daughters. Yeah I think we already covered that when I first arrived, so whats changed?" Ranma looked at Nabiki seriously for a moment. Then continued. "Okay thats one option. What about financing the redevelopment of the block your selves? Ten or so apartments on the block where the koi pond is now should take care of the taxes for you. And as an added bonus we wouldn't have to worry about falling in it anymore. With the size of this block you won't even have to interfere with the house or dojo if you plan it right."

"Okay who are you and what did you do with the real Ranma?" As everyone was staring at him it seemed like he would have to answer the question.

"Drat! I thought I could fool you, but it seems you are too sharp for me." His voice had deepened and he added a snarl into the last words.

Pandemonium broke loose at that stage, there had been too many imposters for them not to take it seriously. Akane powered up her aura and brought her hammer into real space. Soun leapt to his feet and took a defensive stance, but Nodoka was the real surprise. She rolled back and away from her son, when her hands touched the floor she thrust them downwards thus catapulting herself into the air. The family blade came clear its sheath and turned into a silver halo around her, a web of protection only visible as an afterimage as it passed in a blinding non stop arc. After two sommersaults and a full twist she landed facing the imposter with her katana drawn in a high guard, while the sheath was held to the side angled away from Ranma (we'll re-label the sheath - blunt instrument). She was glaring at her 'son' in a most unwholesome manner.

Ranma for his part rolled his eyes as he fought to hold in his laughter. Then he saw his mother and his laughter erupted.

"BWA-HA-HAH-HA..." He rolled onto his back and then rolled from side to side as his mirth overwhelmed him. After a few minutes of watching everyone's faces switch between anger, confusion, realization, relief and then anger again he managed to gain control and sat up. This was a mistake as his mother was incandescent with rage, the sheath made an unholy whistling sound as it thunked into the back of his head, THONK which then in accordance with the laws of kinetics transferred its velocity to his head which smacked into the table. He straightened up and then rolled back to join his father in la-la land.

Nodoka blinked at her sons prostrate form and then muttered to herself

"He gets his speed from me! He gets his strength from me! He picks up techniques like I did! He even looks like my side of the family, even when he's a she. So why for Kami-Samas sake did he get Genma's sense of humor?"

Everyone who was as yet conscious face-vaulted when they realized that Ranma had played them like a drum.

Then Nodoka upended her water glass on him. Ranma-chan sat up sputtering.

"Ite-ite-ite! That hurt you know?"

"It was meant to! And if you pull a joke like that again I'll give you another lump. Now answer Nabikis' question."

"O.k., o.k. All right, this goes back a little ways so bear with me. You all know about the training trip, or at least you think you do." He held up his hand to forstall any comments. "Well there's more to it than that, all that time my focus was on the martial arts, but that wasn't my choice. Anytime I showed even the slightest interest in anything other than the Art Pops smacked me down, and by smack-down I mean I needed medical attention sometimes. After a couple of years I stopped trying to learn anything else. It wasn't like I was trying to learn girly stuff either, turns out school was a no-no, unless the truancy officers caught me. In twelve years I spent less than a year in school. I remembered people tellin' me there was more to life than martial arts; well thanks to pops I never believed them till I met Nabiki. As you know Nabs here has been doing some things that she knows will get her in trouble. Well a lot of that was aimed at me, and lets face it I got tired of it, what's the point of being some great martial artist if anyone can walk up and sucker ya. So I took steps to learn what was what. I started paying attention in school while no one payed any attention to me. Books can be really handy things too, then there's the net. Some real smart people out there taught me some different types of techniques. I just thought it was time some people learned that I'm not as dumb as they like to think." He gazed innocently at the other people in the room.

"The next point I wanted to make is that while Tendo-san is old, he ain't ancient. He's got years before anyone has to worry about inheritance taxes. In fact the only one who stood to get a thing out of this is Pops." He left the words hanging for a moment before continuing. "You think he truly felt my education was a waste of time? You think that poor un-educated Ranma could manage a dojo? Oh no Ranma let your father help you with that, don't let those nasty numbers worry your little head. What? They don't seem to add up, well I never, I'll sort that out, just you don't watch!" By this time a number of eyes had turned to look at the recumbent figure of Genma, fire blazed in a few, what was in the others we'll leave unnamed as such emotions should never be talked about. Those emotions would have sent a shiver up the spine of any decent demon.

It was lucky Genma was still unconscious, of course that would change several times in the course of the night.

"Yeah so I don't totally trust Pops, what's new. So here I am honour bound to marry a Tendo, with Pops and Soun here pushing for all they're worth. Of course I started fighting them on this. I mean I'm only just eighteen now; I'm not ready to marry Akane! I'm not ready to marry anyone. With the way things have gone in the last two years, I don't know if I ever will."

"You don't like me?" Akane spoke in a small voice; she had begun to look at Ranma in a different light since Phoenix mountain. She wasn't ready to jump into his arms and declare her everlasting love, but who knew in the near future?

"Nah, na Akane! It's not like that, not like that at all. I really do like you, and thats a part of the problem."

"Nani?" Akane exclaimed at the top of her lungs.

"Well ya see, I don't have just you to consider. There's Ukyou and Shampoo to think of too." Slight sounds of mount Tendo rumbling in preparation of eruption. "NO! LET ME FINISH! NO ONE EVER LETS ME HAVE MY SAY! AND I'VE HAD ENOUGH!." The final roar caused Soun's hair to stream away in the breeze. Everyone sat there blinking. "Right, now I reckon I've got what you'd call MFD." At the blank looks he recieved he decided to clarify it for them. "That would be Multiple Fiancée Disorder or maybe that's disaster, I'll get back to you on that. From what I know, there could be more than the seven fiancée's that have turned up so far, as pops would trade my hand in marriage on a regular basis. The two that concern me are Akane and Ukyou. Shampoo says we're already married by Amazon law, but I'd like to see them press that in a Japanese court of law. Ukyou and Akane on the other hand are Japanese, and both have legal and binding engagement contracts. So lets clear up a few points shall we? Tendo-san you and my father here engaged us at birth, yes?"

"Ah that's not quite correct, we did talk about it before we had any children but no decisions were actually made. You were all quite a bit older when the actual formal agreement was made."

"Huh? That's news to me, pops always told me that we were engaged at birth. Okay, lets put that aside for the moment. Now as I understand it the dowry was to be the dojo, is that right? And if it is when was the dojo supposed to change hands?"

"That is correct the agreement was that the dojo would change hands when the two of you were old enough to marry. Then there was the part about you being the greatest martial artist of your generation."

"What? So let me get this straight. By those rules the dojo should have been exchanged already."

"Ah, well, you see..." Tendo Soun temporised nervously.

"So, you know of a better martial artist than me, hmmm? How does killing a God stack up on what ever scale you're using? And as for Happosai, has anyone seen him recently? You wanna know why? Thats 'cos I resealed the little hentai away."

Soun looked stunned, not that it takes much to do that to the over-emotional patriach of the Tendo clan.

"Do ya wanna know what I think?" Not waiting for an answer he plowed on. "I think that you haven't given the dowry yet because you're not ready to see your little girls married. I also think thats why you personally have been pushing us so hard, you knew that the harder you forced the issue the harder Akane and I would fight it, isn't that so?"

SWISH SWISH Soun shook his head so hard his hair swung out behind him, while Akane stared very hard at her father.

"It's true isn't it father? But why? All you had to do was set the ceremony for some time in the future. So why try to force us?"

Soun looked defeated, his shoulders slumped as he sighed.

"After your mother died I fell to pieces, and I know thats not news to anyone. It left me weak and very fragile. This was when Genma came to me to suggest that a union between our families would be beneficial, as I had three daughters and no heir I thought, no thats not it, Genma thought, and he kept talking, cajoling and leading until I gave my word. Two years later he left on the training trip. I recovered somewhat and found that I really disliked the idea. But my word I had given and by my word I was bound. In the two years I mourned Kimiko my daughters picked up the responsibilities that should have been mine, and when I recovered enough to see this I was too weak to take these tasks from them. If I had, maybe I would be a different man now, but 'If' does not count for much. And since then they have made it so easy to sit back and let them do what they will." Soun sighed again then took a breath. "I stopped crying for my wife eight years ago, now I cry for my guilt, and for the years I have stolen from my daughters childhood."

"FATHER" all three Tendo daughters looked stunned at his admission.

"No, the time is past, long past, that I stepped forward as the adult in this house! We will find legitimate means to make money, and we will rebuild this clans honour. I will talk with you at another time Nabiki about this, and many other things that have come to my attention over the years. You will turn over all the money you have earned to the family coffers. You will destroy your files on students and teachers. And you will hand your camera to me, your days of photographing Ranma and Akane are at an end."

"Ummm. If you don't mind Tendo-san I have no real objections to the photos."

"What!" Now all attention was back on Ranma.

"Well you see, I knew about the photos."

"You did?" Nabiki asked.

"Of course I did. Do you think I couldn't sense you, you give off a lotta chi when you're thinking about money. I could have stopped you at any time. I just needed you to know I'm not like Pops, I won't mooch off this family the way he does. When we came I knew you guys had trouble, and didn't need us eatin' ya outta house and home, so I looked for work. Yeah, theres no need to look like that. I even got a job or two, but then Ryoga showed up and you can guess how things went from there. I have yet to figure out how someone with his sense of direction always managed to turn up and cause the most damage to my life, oh well. Everything I earned was kept to pay off the damages, and before long everyone knew hiring me was a bad idea. I looked for other stuff to earn money, but I seem to be cursed in that department. The only skills I had were martial arts, and no one wanted to hire a sensei as young as me, even if I did beat all their blackbelts simulaneously. Then I sensed Nabiki spying on me. I decided to find out what she was up to, and thats when I found out she was selling photos of us to Kuno and when I saw how much she could make off a few photos I decided to pose a little for her." Ranma smirked at the stunned expressions on the faces of the others at the table, Nabiki's only response was a slow blink blink.

"Ah - yes, well son I think we're getting away from the issues at hand. Soun, um, Soun? TENDO-SAN!"

Soun's head snapped around to look at the Saotome matriarch, then he blinked like an owl as his mind came back on-line

"Yes Nodoka-san?"

"If I understand the gist of what you've said you would like to negate the marriage contract between our two clans. Yes?"

"I'd like to yes, but there is the small matter of the loss of honour involved."

"Daddy? You can't mean it."

"I do daughter. Since Ranma has been here I have watched you lose control of your temper more and more often. I now know this is to do with the stress of the contract. I will remove that stress if I can."

"B-bb-ut I w-w-wan-t to, ---."she looked surprised at her own admission. Ranma on the other hand was a little more than shocked. Nabiki just snickered behind her hand, not even trying to hide how she felt.

"Nani? You do? Since when?" If looks could maim Nabiki would be a quivering pile of nerve endings by now. "Will you stop that Nabiki, this is not funny. I want to know this."

Akane went bright pink, her embarrassment so intense she had to hide her face. Then she closed her eyes for good measure. She was afraid that her feelings would be written in their depths, not that her sisters didn't already know all this.

"Ummm." She had to pause and take a breath. "Since I saw you in the furo."

"Huh? What the hell. Why did that change your mind?"

Nabiki went cross-eyed trying to hold in her mirth, then as she saw his genuinely confused expression she let out a howl of laughter.

"HEE-HEE-he-heh, the-the look on your face --- Ha-ha-ha oh this is priceless."

"Oh!" As realisation sunk in. Then his and Akane's faces flamed.

"NABIKIII! NO! BAKA!"

Then Nabiki went cross-eyed as she focused on the hammer right in front of her eyes, she went white. As the hammer stopped resting against her forehead, withdrew a centimetre then pinged her hard enough to roll her head back.

"Hah! That'll teach you."

Soun glared at his youngest daughter until he realised that Nabiki was really uninjured.

"Oh my, it seems I missed something. Oh the teas ready, sorry it took so long Father, I decided to make some snacks as I have a feeling this may take some time. Here you go Ranma-chan thought you might need this." Kasumi held a kettle of hot water while she smiled benevolently around at the assembled family. Ranma relaxed a little as now there was one smile that was aimed in his direction. "Now tell me what I missed."

Soun and Nodoka summarised for a while. Then Kasumi's brow furrowed in thought. "I'm not so sure that cancelling the engagements is such a good idea."

"Nani?" Was shouted from several sides.

"If you cancel them it leaves the way free for the Amazons to step into the void. As things stand they have no real claim that would threaten the current status quo. But with no engagements they may be able to get official recognition of contract from the authorities. Nabiki back me up here."

"Well it is true that the government won't do a thing while there are official engagements, but with them gone theres no telling. I mean they always like to say that ignorance of rules is no defence in a courtroom. They may contend that on entering a new situation the Saotomes should have found out the local laws. Hmmm, thats a good point Kasumi. Hold on I'll go and get my copy of the 'Rules of Amazon conduct'." She then bustled off towards the stairs.

"Hmmm something to consider, indeed." He looked around the table and then suggested. "Maybe we should take this time to enjoy the repast Kasumi has made for us." Ranma looked blank for a moment.

"What he means son is lets eat and drink, yes?"

"Oh. Then why didn't he just say that?"

"He did dear. Genma put down the plate, you've got to share that food." Looking rather rebellious he slowly returned the food to the table but not before taking almost a quarter of the snacks. Nodoka sighed in resignation as her son plundered an equal share and started to stuff his face.

Nodoka's brow furrowed as she pondered the present situation, every so often her hand moved a snack to her mouth only to return to the table top. 'Firstly I think we need to find out how many engagements there are. Hmm, as Ranma was so young for most of them I guess I'll have to ask Genma' She paused in her eating and glanced at her husband of nearly twenty years, he continued to stuff his face with food faster than the eye could follow, totally oblivious to his surroundings. 'Maybe I'll wait for a little while, the last thing I need is to be sprayed with food.' Silence decended for a few minutes as everyone consumed the snacks Kasumi had brought out for them.

"Okay Genma, its time for you to tell me how many fiancée 's Ranma has. We know of three official fiancée's and the four we've routed from the doorstep, and of course theres the Amazon, and the Kuno girl."

"Mom don't even joke about Kodachi, that girls nuts, and I mean that with a capital N, U and T."

"Ranma! It's not manly to insult a young womans mind like that."

"Okay Auntie Nodoka, I'll do it for him. She's loopy, totally insane. The only reason she isn't in a padded cell is because of her families influence. If it were one of us, we'd have been charged with criminal insanity and put away for as long as the judge liked." Nabiki smirked as she re-entered the room with a small tome under one arm and her laptop dangling from it's strap on her opposite shoulder. Setting both down on the table she began to thumb through the leather bound volume. "No that's not it, maybe...hmmm. I've looked through this many times and still haven't found any loopholes in the marriage laws. Damn it I even spent good money getting a specialist to look at them, he couldn't find anything either." She started muttering as soon as she sat down. Nodoka however wasn't ready to let it go.

"She can't be that bad, can she?"

"Lets see, she has a pet crocodile." Ranma stated as if that was all the evidence required.

"Well thats certainly strange, but I wouldn't say insane."

"She thinks its a turtle. Oh and its scared of her."

"Oh, I think I begin to see what you mean. Well we can certainly scratch her from the list. So would you care to answer the question Genma?" Ranma released a sigh as Kodachi was scratched from the list of his worries.

Genma looked frustrated, of course he didn't want to answer the question, but that had never helped before so he just frowned a little. After a while he started to tick off his fingers, when he ran out of fingers he looked around for something else to aid his count. His toes were a distant memory as his wife sighed in frustration.

"I think I get the idea 'Dear'. Could you at least give us a ball park figure? Its obviously more than twenty, is it as many as fifty?" Genma thought then nodded slightly. "Surely not anywhere near a hundred?" Genma again frowned in thought, and after a moment thinking about physical harm he shook his head vigourously. "Okay, so it's over a hundred. I think we may have a rather large problem here."

"I just said it wasn't near a hundred woman." Genma said in frustration.

"Yes I know you did, but I guess I just don't believe you. In more ways than one."

Ranma sat and twitched, he was having enough trouble with the three fiancee's he had on hand. The thought of another hundred or more caused his calm mental processes to explode in fury.

"THATS IT! THERE'S NO WAY I'M MARRYING ANYONE, YOU DAMN PANDA."

"You will boy, its for the good of the clan."

"SINCE WHEN DID THAT MATTER TO YOU? ALL YOU CARE ABOUT IS YOUR FAT STOMACH!"

"That's enough boy, if you don't marry one of them I'll disown you. We'll see how you like being ronin. You may not like me, but you will respect me, boy!"

"I know I don't like you, and as for respect I believe hell will freeze over before I do that." Down below the Devil looked slightly nervous, but then relaxed as his domain failed to develop any ice. Damn but he hated it when people made crass statements like that. And it was one of the few times he disliked liars, he had a special hell lined up for people like that. "And as for marrying any of them, HAH! It's not gonna happen pops."

"Then you leave me no choice, from this day forward there is no child of this clan named Saotome Ranma. You are as dead to me as the leaves that fall from the trees in autumn. Cry out in need and none from clan Saotome shall give aid. You will leave here now, and you shall not return."

"What you can't mean that pops." Ranma looked shell-shocked by his fathers' statements. The words did not just affect Ranma; everyone else seemed to have something to say.

"Now that's a bit much isn't it Genma? You don't need to go that far." Soun let his old friend know that he was un-happy at this turn of events. He still liked the boy, even if he didn't want his daughters to marry him yet.

"Oh my!" Guess who?

"Ah, Genma I hate to point this out but this is our home, so you can't tell him to leave." Nabiki wasn't even smirking; this could seriously affect her profitability in the future.

Akane had been so deep in thought about her life for the last two years that she hadn't heard a thing since her admission about liking Ranma. She didn't even look up when he was disowned.

"Did I just hear you correctly Genma? Did you just disown my son?" Nodokas' hand slid across the floor as she fumbled for her katana.

"Say that again Genma!"

"You heard me woman. If Ranma is not going to uphold the honour of the Saotome clan then I disown him. He is dead to me! Do you hear me boy! Dead I say!"

"Thats what I thought I heard. Husband..." She raised the katana above the table top, and for the first time Genma started to go pale and sweat. "I have waited such a long time for you to finally do something this stupid." She drew the blade and allowed the electric light to gleam on the razor edge, then much to his relief she laid it down on the table in front of her. His relief died a quick death as he saw her reach a finger nail into the sheath and withdraw a yellowed piece of paper. Now he was more than sweating.

"Now Nodaka there's no need for that, I only did it to pressure the boy!"

"I know that, you baka. Your problem is you did it in front of so many witnesses. You speak of family honour, but you use it as a tool. I say it's no mans tool, it is life itself to my clan. You have allowed me to do something my clan has wanted me to do for a long time." She sighed before continuing. "You have relinquished all rights to guide our son, you have no right to berate him, you have no claim on his honour. This night you become the last of the Saotome clan. With this paper I will make sure of that." Nodoka unfolded the paper and then removed a second piece from inside, laying them flat side by side she then looked at her son for the first time in ten minutes. He looked pale, he knew what one of those papers meant.

"My son, it has been a long time since I have looked at these papers, only the first one applies to you directly though."

"Uhhh. Don't I get some kind of say in any of this?"

"Of course you do son. You may always refuse the honour my clan would bestow on you." Now several people looked puzzled. How could any clan believe that a seppuka contract was an honour.

"What honour, I'm not ready to die!" Ranma almost shouted as he confronted his mother, and she had seemed so reasonable earlier in the night.

"Die? Who said anything about die?" Now Nodoka was the one to look confused. She sat looking pensively as she thought about the situation, then straightened her back as she reached some kind of resolution. "I see..." She turned to her husband. "...so you told him of that contract you forced him to sign twelve years ago?" Her eyebrows lowered as she glared at the man she had hardly thought of for the previous decade.

"Well of course I did, you think I wanted to die, I told him to protect him from you."

"From me? Me? You were the one who came up with that piece of idiocy. You were the one who made our son sign that contract. You didn't even have the decency to show it to me before you left! You took my son and left a piece of paper, you didn't even let me say goodbye!" If she had been angry earlier she was now furious, Genma could see flames in her eyes. He went from being confident and smug, to being nervous and cowed.

"Is this true Genma?"

"Now Soun I only did it to protect my son, I never wanted him to grow soft or complacent, and with his mother there he would always have someone there to run to, to make excuses for his weaknesses." He allowed his gravelly voice to take on the tones of the righteous father, the man who would do anything for his son. Soun looked at him sceptically, he had begun to question his friends motives earlier in the evening when he had several truths revealed to him, now his doubts crystallized even further.

"But Genma, you have no son. This young man has been made ronin this night. You released him from the honour of the Saotome clan, and as such he has no honour to uphold."

"Surely you won't hold me to that Soun my old friend?" He almost pleaded with the other man.

"After listening to the both of you I think I might. I never believed you could show such a lack of compassion, where did the man I know go Genma? You once were a man who would stare death in the face to uphold your honour. When did you replace that implacable will with this shadow?" Soun shook his head slowly as if he could not believe any of the last revelations about his old friend could be true.

"You can't mean that, she still means to hold him to that contract. Look at her, she places it down in front of us and does not even have the decency to look ashamed."

Nodoka turned white, as several things clicked in her head. "You dare! That contract no longer exists as far as I'm concerned. I wanted to burn that execrable piece of paper. I only kept it to remind me of what a bastard you truly can be. I attempted to follow you, you know that. But you used the Umi-sen-ken, I could not sense you, you left no trace to follow!" She screamed the last, the anguish on her face was enough to convice all at the table except one that she was sincere. "I asked for clan assistance to find you but every time my clan got close to you, your danger sense would kick in and you'd run. My clan truly hates you, they have for years, but they would not tell me why. Since your return and finding out about the neko-ken training I made a few guesses, and so I asked based on that knowledge. The answer did not please me, they decided that since I already knew, it could not cause anymore damage, they were wrong. How could you push my son again and again into a pit filled with starving cats, they found that pit, so they knew you had succeeded, you left it as it was when Ranma turned neko for the first time. They found the mutilated corpses of all those cats. They were not just killed they were shredded. You turned my son into a killing machine with no control, you broke his mind, and you have never once showed any remorse."

"Now Nodoka any man could have made that mistake..." That was as far as he got before they heard the hissing sound as her blade left its sheath for the second time in under an hour, no one saw its passage as the blade arced towards Genma, not even Genma saw the blade, but his danger sense was as strong as ever and he leant back just in time to make sure he kept his head. Soun looked blank as a fine mist of blood struck his cheek, he turned to his friend in time to see the slice to his neck open, it was only a shallow cut but it was bleeding quite nicely, it was no where near enough to endanger the martial artists life, but it was shocking how close it had been. He would not find out until later how close the blade had come to himself, he looked in the bathroom mirror and went pale. The blade had not touched his skin, but his beautiful glossy moustache was a different matter. As he realised the side closest to Genma had been cut in half he started to bawl, as the second realisation struck, i.e. how close he had come to death, he fainted dead away. Back to earlier.

"YOU ALMOST KILLED ME!"

"DON'T TEMPT ME! YOU CALL YOURSELF A FATHER. HAH! WELL YOU DON'T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT HIM ANY LONGER, MY CLAN WILL ADOPT HIM, YOU GAVE US THE OPPORTUNITY TO HELP HIM, YOU DID!"

"You don't mean that! You can't. He's a Saotome!" He had turned pale again at this turn in the conversation.

"By your own word you declared him ronin, my clan has waited eleven years for the honour to claim him. Our clan elders have had the papers drawn up for that long, we just needed the opportunity." She was almost gloating now. "That is what this paper is, his adoption papers."

Ranmas mind seemed to come back on line at this statement he had been watching the previous conversation almost like a tennis match, taking in the action but not thinking anything. He thought it had been 'the contract' and now he knew he was wrong, all of the meaning in the previous words pilled into his mind as he began to comprehend their meaning. He realised several things almost instantly, the first was that this was really happening, tonight was supposed to resolve a number of fiancé problems, but this was way beyond that. Secondly he realised that his father was no longer his father, everyone at the table was angry at Genma, and so were likely to act as the needed witnesses to a disowning. Thirdly he realised that his mother was not the monster Genma had painted her, he had known that she had been lonely all these years but he had thought it was self inflicted. But then his mind latched on to that last statement from his mother.

"Adopted?" Nodoka turned to look at her son, she saw that the colour had returned to his cheeks.

"Yes Ranma, adopted. Clan Itsunagi has been trying for a long time to bring you into our clan."

"Uh, me?"

"That's right my son, you."

"B-b-ut why? They don't know me."

"While it's true they never found you, they did find most of the dojos and senseis' your father took you to. To be honest at first they wanted to find you for my sake, but as the years passed they became impressed with you, at each dojo they found that the masters were all impressed with you, not just your skill, but also your inate honesty, and your work ethic. Your father on the other hand destroyed what respect they held for his skill. He stole from and lied to them all the time, when he found scrolls on techniques he would attempt to steal them, sometimes he did and he would run for the hills with you, but othertimes they would catch him in the act and then he would run for his life. This led to a deepening of the respect in which you were held. You held to your ideals even with your fathers example."

Ranma blushed at his mothers praise, he had never thought about those early years in quite the way his mothers clan and all those other people had. He never knew why his father had always run away, he knew why Genma ran from the farmers and villagers he stole from, but not from the dojos and the like. Now a great many things were becoming clear.

"And you say I've no honour? You are dead to me, what respect I held for you as my father is as dead as the cherry blossoms that fall in the springtime. That such a thing of beaty could wither in the winds of your deceit." He went silent as he glared at the old man.

Nabiki looked at Ranma and asked herself when Kuno Tatewaki had arrived. Genma was torn, all of his sons life he had been the pillar that his son would lean on, now when he stared at his son eyes he saw nothing. No love, no respect and certainly no fear. He began to open his mouth to say something in his own defence but the look he received from his son convinced him to remain silent.

"Mother I don't know if I'm ready to join your clan, but I would like to have time to consider the honour they would give to me. I do not know these people, and I feel I need to, even as they need to learn the truth about me." He looked to his mother, his anxiety shone in his eyes. He had spoken slowly, as he needed to piece them together in his own mind. He had never been good with words, but this, this was too important to mess up.

"How do you mean the truth about you Ranma?"

"Well they ain't never met me, so all they know 'bout me is what other people think. Thats not always a good thing to trust." Tendo Soun looked at the young man before him with a new found respect, he had always respected his fighting ability, now he began to respect his mind. Nabiki had just decided that she needed to have a long chat with Ranma, he seemed to have more potential than she had realised. 'Damn the curse, if not for it I may have noticed sooner.'

"I find nothing wrong in anything you have said my son. I will introduce you to my family in the near future, and you can learn all about them. For now we need to continue with your fiancee situation. In a way Genma finally did something right, by disowning you he has voided all agreements that include a Ranma Saotome. As that young man no longer exists you are now free." She smiled as her sons face lit up.

"Well thats just great, now you get to go to China with the Amazons." Nabiki looked at Ranma, his face had dulled at his sudden realisation that she was correct.

"Nani?" Akane sat looking like a fish out of water.

"Remember, no fiancé no prior claim, no prior claim, no defence if they choose to take matters into court."

Ranma remained silent for a couple of minutes while the others talked about his situation. Now Ranma was no great thinker, but strategy and tactics was something he excelled at, in a fight with his experience to back him he could make split second decisions that would save his life of defeat his enemies. Now for perhaps the first time he began to apply them to his own life. He just needed to figure out the correct sequence to follow.

"Hold on a second, " everyone turned to look at him, "one thing I learned in the art is, if someones gonna hit you, your best defence is not to be there to get hit. If you can't block, you dodge."

"Well duh Ranma, whats that got to do with this?"

"The last time Shampoo followed me it took her nearly three months to figure out where we were going, so all I got to do is figure out where to go. Mother I think I'd like to go and meet your family. Where would I have to go to do this?"

"Our clan home is in Okinawa. If you'll let me I'll make some calls and we can set everything in motion."

"So you finally admit it, you'll runaway like a coward!"

"Now even you've got to admit theres a certain amount of irony in what you just said Genma." Nabiki smirked at the older man. Genma didn't have the grace to blush at that statement.

"Oy, I never run away, I'm just doing one of those strategic retreat thingies. I need time to plan, I can't defend this position, so I find one I can, it may even be this one in the end, but only when I figure out how. I've needed time since I got here, but everytime I got some space to think some insane martial artist showed up and challenged me, or a new fiancé or something like that. Okay I think I got a plan of attack let me know what you think Nabiki. First off when I go the first thing Koh lon will do is gather information, so we control what they know. Let them know I've been disowned, tell them that I dissappeared with no trace, oh and you'll like this bit Nabiki, you get to charge them for the information. If you don't they'll never believe you. Or, oh, now this is evil, what if we get Akane to run around frantically asking where I am. Don't look at me like that Akane, it'll give you a chance to act, you ask everyone we know if they know where I am, then tell them what happened with the disowning. Next we lay a false trail for them to follow, make it look like I just ran off with no real plan. Hmmm let me think, lets say Ranma Saotome boards a ship as a deckhand, pick a destination on the other side of the world. Now the family keeps searching for me, Nabiki stumbles across the 'false trail' and then charges all interested parties lots of money for the information. Then we sit back and watch their reaction." He smiled as he waited for Nabikis reaction.

"Whoa! You just came up with that." She looked at him, and then with profound respect offered a bow. "I think it will probably work too. And you were right that was an evil idea." She joined Ranma in his smile.

"Son, I think we can take it a step further, you have several cousins in the area who might be interested in going around the world like that. Let me talk to them and we'll see. It would lend even more credibilty to the story if postcards started to arrive from all over the world." Nodoka looked pleased at her sons idea and everyone around the table started to smile, that is with the exception of Genma.

"Lets look at the positive effects, firstly we pre-empt their own searches, so they don't feel the need to hurt anyone to get information." Nabiki ticked each point off on her fingers. " Secondly, all the fiance's who are serious will do one of three things, one they stay here and wait, two they give chase, or three they give up and go back where they came from. Not one of those options is a loss as far as I can see. Thirdly Ranma gets the chance to figure out what he wants, and how to get it."

Ranma was looking a little befuddled. "What I want?" No one had ever given him a choice before and he wasn't really sure what he wanted, but it might be nice to have a little time to himself and sort it all out.

"You've got it all figured out don't you?" Genmas harsh voice cut across the pleasant feelings everyone was sharing. "You forgot one thing, I no longer seem to have a stake in whats going on, so I have no need to protect this ungrateful creature that was once my son."

"You wouldn't tell them would you?"

"Why not? What has anyone offered me for my silence, huh?" That was as far as he got before a fist entered his field of vision and connected right between his eyes. For those of you confused at the sequence of events I shall now give a slow mo version of events.

As Genma spoke for the first time everyone turned to stare at him, his voice had turned most viscious, everyone looked a little pole-axed, at his second statement about his son, some at the table opened their mouths to shout at him, but Akane was first to speak.

"You wouldn't tell them would you?"

As Genma continued Ranma decided he needed to act, he was in the act of leaping across the table when Souns hand flickered out almost like a snakes tongue, it impacted with Genmas head and that was that. He didn't so much roll backwards as he flew. He struck the wall in an upside down position and slumped, with his shoulder blades touching the floor, then his body folded and his feet fell to the floor also. Now Genma might not normally fall for such a backhand, but his focus had been on his son not on his old friend so when the back-fist appeared in his vision his guard was up, but it was directed at his son.

Okay now that everyones back up to speed, we'll resume our regular fanfic.

Ranma blinked, his extended fist in the space his fathers head had occupied just seconds before, then he turned to look at Tendo Soun. "How the hell did you do that? I've never managed to blindside him like that before."

Soun looked at his hand, he hadn't felt that he could move like that for years. Then he looked at the young man kneeling in the middle of the low table. "Let me see if I can explain it. As you know there is a fundamental difference in the two styles of anything goes, Genma developed his style to be extremely aggressive, paring away anything that had even a scent of the soft arts(Tai chi would be an example of a soft art, most westerners believe its an exercise like aerobics, but in truth its one of the more dangerous arts. It takes the energy that the enemy puts into their attack and then redirects it so that the opponent injures themselves and not the target. Sounds easy but its not. it can take decades to become truly effective.). He developed his danger sense based on those kind of attacks. Now I've always been able to surprise him like that, Genma reads levels of aggresion, thats how his danger sense works. On my side of the art we take into account everything, soft arts, meditation the works. In meditation there is a mental state called the mind of no mind, now no one really knows what that means even if they've achieved it, but when I enter that state there is no delay between thought and action, and emotions play no part in said actions. With no emotions, Genma has no danger sense. Does that clear it up for you Ranma."

"Uh yeah, I think so."

"Now while it felt good to strike him we still seem to have the same problem. He will continue to blackmail us. It shames me that I once called him friend. We need a plan to take care of him."

"I think we need to figure out what the acceptable outcomes could be. I mean are we willing to kill him?"

"No, not that far. He may have disowned me but I still think of him as my father, at least I do for the moment. I suppose I could seal him as I did the master." Ranma looked hopefully at the other people around the table.

"Genma doesn't have the same survival techniques as the master, Happosais' like a rodent that hibernates. He sleeps and begins to burn energy at a very low rate. Genma though is different, I feel it would probably kill him. As surely as if we stuck a knife in him." Soun frowned as he tried to think of all the repercussins of any plans they might come up with. Well as he was drawing a blank he looked towards Nabiki for assistance. "Can you think of anything that we might be able to do Nabiki?"

She looked at her father cooly as if to say; 'Do you really need to ask?' Moving the book of Amazon law aside she flipped the lid on her laptop, and searched her contingency plan files for the ones marked panda. "Here's one I prepared earlier. At one stage there we weren't earning enough to keep the house in repair, hell it nearly got bad enough that next weeks foodbills could be troublesome. So I started to look for ways to cut expenses, once I saw how much the Saotomes actually cost us, it became clear we'd have to get rid of at least one of them. Ranma here was doing alright, he was actually earning money for us, but the panda, it wasn't just the food it was the damage it did to the compound. So I thought about how to earn the maximum money from him." She paused to take a sip from her teacup then resumed speaking. "The first thing I thought of was he needed to get a job, but then remembered he'd had one for a short time, then he just stopped going. Then just as I started to despair I saw an article in the Tokyo Business Review, it had nothing to do with money making, it was a fund-raiser. It seemed that Tokyo University and the Main Tokyo zoo were entering into a joint. breeding program for rare species, they decided to start with pandas and if they could succeed where others had failed they were going to move on..."

"Yeah that's real interestin' Nabiki, but could ya cut to the chase. It's getting a little late and I wouldn't mind some sleep tonight." Ranma burst out with his usual tact.

"Oh, right, sorry about that. Pandas are rare, ergo they're worth money. So I thought I'd get rid of our biggest money drain and maybe earn a big reward. So then I worked up a pros and cons list, there weren't that many cons. There was one that I couldn't find any way around, pandas are good at climbing but they're not that energetic so escaping is no real threat from a real panda, therefore panda enclosures aren't strong enough to keep a powerful martial artist locked up, then we'd be back in the same position, but this time with the zoo asking where their panda went. With our luck they'd get here just as something activated Genmas' curse, then we'd be even worse off as they'd sue us, or charge us with fraud over selling them a trained panda. So you see I thought real hard about contingency plans, but couldn't really make it work." Sighing to herself she shut the computer down and sat back.

"Well if strength is the only problem I think I might have a solution. Remember the Ultimate Weakness Moxibustion? Well when I found it's cure I also found out how to activate it." Ranma smiled to himself, the only piece he hadn't found easily had been the cure, the rest had been easy to read and with his eidetic memory he'd memorised the whole thing in seconds. Time to see if the thing really worked the way it should. Leaning over his father he simultaneously struck several accupressure spots using his ki to apply the moxibustion heat, the fact that they were a couple of feet apart didn't faze him as his hands blurred, striking deeply into the large mans torso. "Alright that should do the trick. Now all we've got to do is test it out." He dusted his hands.

"How do we do that son?"

"I'd say the quickest way would be to hit him. It can't be one of the martial artists though, as that won't prove a thing. So how about it, you up to hitting the panda Kasumi? How about you Nabiki?"

"Oh I could never do that Ranma!" The oldest daughter looked shocked that anyone would even think she could hit someone.

"I don't know if I could get close enough Ranma. I make him nervous."

"Hate to say this Nabiki, but you make anyone with a pulse and a pocketbook nervous. So what's your point." He smirked as he licked a finger and made a point scoring gesture in the air.

"Well if you're wrong I don't think he's got any qualms about hitting me. Kasumi on the other hand. Well lets just say I don't think he'll see it coming, and I know he won't hit the best cook in the house." She chuckled at the thought of Kasumi refusing to cook for him.

"Well thank you sister, I think. I really don't wan't to do this, it just doesn't feel right." The smile she usually wore had gone missing sometime in the last few minutes.

"What? You feel it's better that he have free reign to ruin all our plans?"

"Let me get back to you on that."

The thud as several people face-vaulted began to rouse Genma from his unscheduled nap.

"Okay we've got one shot at this, Kasumi we need you to do this. I want you to think of all the bad things that have happened here over the last two years, picture it in your mind. I want you to think of the things he's said and done tonight. Now close your eyes and imagine the pain he'll cause if he's allowed to talk to the Amazons or Kunos'. Can you see the damage?" Kasumi nodded hesitantly. "Can you feel the pain of your family?" This time the nod was slow and definite. The smile was a distant memory now. "You can stop him you know." Kasumi looked at Genma as he started to stand up. She nodded slowly. Then she walked over to him. Her thoughts were a little chaotic at this point, she had decided that she was a mother figure years ago, and now she was realising that she could also be the protector. This man was responsible for so much pain, she had sat in her kitchen and listened to Ranma tell forlorn stories of his childhood, a childhood that never really existed. She thought of the pressure Genma had applied to her father and little sister that had allowed their emotions to go haywire. Now she thought she might just be able to punch the bulky martial artist right on his fat bulbous nose 'Oh my, did I just think that?' She looked at Genma as he stood glaring at his son.

"You really should have done something while I was down boy! That's just sloppy, you call yourself a master of the arts?" His face contorted into true ugliness as he sneered around the table, as per usual they had truly underestimated him, and he was going to take advantage of that fact.

"Hit him now Kasumi." Nodoka urged the younger woman.

"What her? Don't tell me all you big strong fighters don't have the guts to fight me?" He sneered again. Kasumi didn't think she could hit him. "She couldn't hit me if she tried! Shes just a flabby little housewife, even if she hit me she wouldn't leave a mark. Come on then little girl. You want to hit the man, you hit him right here." he placed his finger on his chin and gloated as Kasumi hesitated.

Ranma was off to the side looking at Kasumi with wide eyes. That can't be right, she can't be doing that. Heat waves seemed to roll off of her as she stood in front of Genma.

"On the chin you say?" She didn't remember the stance properly after all it had been over ten years since she worked out in the art. So she raised her hands as she'd seen some boxers do before she'd been able to change the channel. On the surface she seemed calm, but just below the surface was another matter.

"Oh who are you kidding? Why don't you go back to the kitchen where you belong." This proved to be the exact wrong thing to say as Kasumi let out a yell just like Akanes' then swung with all the anger she'd repressed ever since her mother had died.

Now this is where the fun started. Kasumi had heard of Ki attacks, she'd even seen them on many occasions but she had never executed one herself. She'd never even believed she could. So you can imagine her surprise as the anger coaleased around her, flowed upwards like an anti-river then swirled into rapids as it condensed along her arm and into her fist. As the first knuckle met Genmas' face there was a brief flash, followed by a loud boom. To say Genma was startled would be an understatement, he smelt his weedy beard and moustache as it was vaporised. Followed shortly by his nasal hair and eyebrows, then the bandanna he used to protect what little hair he had left. The frames of his glasses melted, as they were no where near as dense a metal as Genmas' head, the lenses fell and as they hit the back of Kasumis hand they shattered into a chrystalline powder and puffed away. Genmas head started to move backwards even as his feet left the ground. By the time he made a hole in the compound wall he was a horizontal blur. Half a block and three similar walls slowed the old man enough to finally plow a thirty foot furrow in someones backyard. When he came to rest with his head against a rockgarden, from this distance it looked like nothing other than a tombstone. Kasumi stepped through with the punch changing her lead foot and placing her in a similar stance to the one she started in, she was ready to strike her opponent again but he seemed to have dissappeared. She raised her eyes and followed the path of destrution. Then she turned her fist and moved it so she could examine it, she slowly went cross-eyed as her mind shut down for a second.

"Owwwww" Kasumi realised that her hand was sending little messages to let her know it didn't appreciate being used like that, especially if she wasn't going to brace it right. Time elapsed from start to ow; half a second. She was still looking at her hand like she hadn't known it was loaded when the others started moving again.

Nabiki got up to examine the hole in the wall, then turned and let loose a low whistle. Akane slumped down, now theres another one who's more powerful than me, it's not fair. The two adults just sat and blinked a few times, Nodoka finally moved to examine Kasumis' hand making little tsking sounds as she turned the hand over and asked her to move her fingers one at a time.

"Holy Kami-Sama in a hand-basket, where the hell did that come from K-chan?" Nabiki turned away from estimating the cost of repairing the damage to ask her sister.

"Huh?" Kasumi was as stunned as everyone else. "Did I do it right Ranma-kun?" She asked in her usual calm tone of voice.

"Ahh yeah, and then some. Problem is the experiment was inconclusive. I think you'll have to hit him again." Ranma laughed as everyone else face-vaulted. He was starting to enjoy that kind of reaction, walking past the prone figures on the floor he marched to where his father lay unmoving. He checked for a pulse, and then breathed again as the slight flutter against his fingers told him all he wanted to know. Picking the older man up by his gi collar and dragging him back to the dojo he laid him out on the floor, then moved over to the telephone. This was an emergency, after all Kasumi was hurt.

"Hello. Dr. Tofu, yes I realise its late but we need you to come over. I'm sorry but kasumi has hurt her hand and we need you to look at it."

"WHAATT!" The rest of what he said turned into the normal high pitched burble that you heard from someone elses phone conversaion.

"Okay Doc, see you in a little while." He turned from the phone and watched as Soun started his wind up to a major hissy fit

"WAAAAHHHHH! My babies been hurt." Ranma felt the change happen even as he started to move away from the Tendo patriarch.

"Oh stop that, Soun. It's actually not as bad as I feared it might be. And look on the bright side, she's learned a valuable lesson here." Nodoka gave the older man a level look.

Soun sniffed as he attempted to get himself back under control. "What do you mean? She's been hurt, what did that teach her?"

"Well the first thing she learned is that if you're going to hit something then you have to get the technique down first, just ask Akane." Akane perked up as someone mentioned her name. For the last half hour or so she'd deemed it best to keep her mouth shut as she still hadn't returned to normal after putting her foot in her mouth. 'Looks like whatever Ranmas got is contagious.' She though to herself. "And secondly she learned that it's not a good idea to hit my husband in the head. Anywhere else and she would have been fine. It's like hitting an immovable object with an infinite force, somethings got to give. Unfortunately it seems she has two dislocated fingers and her wrist is swelling rapidly. I do hope Dr Tofu arrives shortly." She looked up to where her son had dragged Genma back into the family room and narrowed her eyes.

"Is he alright Ranma?" Akane asked hesitantly.

"I'm not sure I care at the moment Akane, but, yeah I think he'll live. Of course we'll know more once the doc arrives." He was getting confused, he really should hate the old man after all the things he'd done to Ranma. But there was a stubborn core of, if not exactly love, then maybe affection. After all he'd been his sole companion for over ten years when they'd been on the road. It was no longer enough to base a relationship on, but it still hurt.

"What could be taking him so long Ranma?" Akane was getting worried, while no one liked Genma at the moment, she wasn't entirely sure that anyone really wished him dead. Kasumi certainly wouldn't handle it very well.

"He moved Akane, you know that. He was offered that partnership a ward over. He's been gone a year, the only reason he's still our doctor at all is because we challenge his healing abilities, and well he gets to see Kasumi." He'd whispered the last while scratching the back of his head. Yeah that partnership wasn't what really convinced the good doctor to move, it had been the fact he lost control everytime he saw the eldest Tendo daughter. He'd tried all kinds of mental exercises to rid himself of the afliction, but it had only gotten worse as time went on. Finally he'd just walked away cursing himself for his weakness.

"Yeah I know what you mean Ranma, he's so silly when Kasumi's around." She tried to hide her smile but it lit her eyes and that's when Ranma thought, 'Yeah like he's the only one, there's me, you and Ryoga too. We're just as bad in our own ways.'

"Ummm. Akane, after the docs' gone I think we need to have a private talk." He started to look nervous.

"What do we need to talk about Ranma?" The corners of her eyes narrowed as her temper began to fray.

"Well I'd really like it if you'd wait till the docs gone. Can ya do that for me Akane?"

"I suppose so, but this better be good. It's getting late and I'm tired." Her tone had gone flat, she hated it when she didn't get answers instantly.

"Well it shouldn't be too long. The docs almost here." He frowned for a moment. "I've gotta figure out how he gets so close without me being able to sense him." Akane looked around for the doc, thinking he'd snuck up on them as he normally did.

"Where is he then, I can't see him."

"He's a couple hundred metres to the south and closing fast, whoa is he fast. I'd think he was in a car if he wasn't crossing roofs." There was a crash in the distance then Ranma glanced up as if watching a bird fly over, he followed it until a dark blur shot past the guttering, it struck the outer wall of the compound and rebounded towards the door to the family room. Doctor Tofu hit the ground feet first and tried to stop, he skidded across the yard for a couple of metres raising a cloud of dust. Then his foot struck one of the sunken stones that led to the Koi pond and he became airborne again, he flew towards the open doors. As he passed the edge of the deck his hand flashed out and grabbed the timber, killing most of his forward momentum and changing his trajectory enough so he could flip back to his feet. He only looked slightly disshevelled as he almost casually walked past a bugeyed Akane and Ranma.

"Now where's my patient?" He asked in his usual calm tones. Nabiki strode over and grabbed his hand.

"She's over here Dr. Tofu." Matching action to words she dragged him over to her sister, then ran for the furthest corner, making sure there were several people between her and the good doctor. 'He's a nice man but Kami he's lethal when Kasumis anywhere near him.' Nodoka and Soun looked puzzled at her rapid retreat but were too busy watching the new drama unfolding before them.

"K-k-ka-sumi? Fancy m-meeting you here?" His glasses were already in the process of fogging up, and it wouldn't be long before he did something silly.

"Dr. Tofu, I live here silly. Could you look at my hand please, the icepacks just aren't helping anymore." She held her hand out for his inspection.

"Yes, yes nice to be meeting you here too." He reached forward to shake her hand, but didn't quite make it as Ranma darted across the room. He picked Tofu up by his lapels and slammed him into the wall.

"Dammnit Doc get a grip willya? Snap out of it Tofu, you gotta help Kasumi!" Dr. Tofu reached out to tap some accupressure points, his eyes still glazed from his encounter with the woman of his dreams. Ranma was having none of it as he backhanded the older man sending his glasses flying across the room. "Come on doc, you can't do this, " he slapped him again, "snap out of it doc. Doc?" Tofus' eyes focused on Ranma for the first time since seeing Kasumi.

"Oh damn, it happened again didn't it?"

"Yeah doc, but we ain't got time for that now. You really need to examine her wrist, then you can look at Genma as well." Nodoka and Soun sat and big-sweated. "Now are you gonna be okay? I can slap you again if you like."

"Uh, no thanks. I think I'll be all right now Ranma, its just been too long since I saw her. Now where did my glasses go? Can't see a thing without them." 'I'm not sure you can see with them doc. Anyone else can see you're crazy about her why can't you just admit it?' Can anyone spell IRONY?

"Here they are Doctor Tofu." Akane handed his spectacles back to him.

"Thankyou Akane." He turned to face Kasumi and visibly braced himself, almost like an ancient warrior girding himself for a battle. Tofu pulled his backpack off and placed it on the floor. He approached her slowly, not meeting her eyes he knew she couldn't have any respect left for him after all the foolish things he'd done. He tentatively reached out with his hand, this time palm up so that she could present her injured hand for his inspection. As her skin touched his he felt his control slipping again, but then he felt her tense slightly and his resolve firmed yet again. 'I will not lose it and hurt her.' He began to examine and catalogue her injuries. 'Hmmm. Dislocated first and second knuckle on first finger, and first knuckle on second finger. Possible fracture to thumb. There's going to be massive bruising shortly. Okay the wrist feels, oh shit that's not good, this is going to need x-rays.' His chi senses were looking at several breaks in the flow of energy in the wrist, meaning the bones were broken, there also could be bone fragments too small to show to his senses.

"I need to call an ambulance, she's got to get x-rays of her wrist. I can give her something for the pain, and this should bring the swelling down a little as well." Opening his pack he put a pair of thin latex gloves on, then he pulled a small black glass jar from his backpack and opened it at arms length. "Now I would take a deep breath and hold it, the fumes from this will make you dizzy, if they don't make you feel ill first." Reaching into the open bottle he pulled some dark green mush out and began to smear it on the wrist and knuckles of her injured hand, faint tendrils of mist drifted off the medicine. Kasumi sucked her breath in for the second time since his gentle examination had begun, this time because the green mess on her hand felt colder than ice, it almost felt like it was burning her. Then a second later she hissed as feeling began to leave the injury. 'Oh now that feels wonderful. Almost as good as when the doctor took my hand.' She blushed lightly, but Tofu still wasn't looking at her so he was the only one who missed it.

"If I didn't know better I'd say this injury was done by punching someone. Heh, he." Chuckling at his own jest he returned to putting Kasumi's arm in a sling.

"Uh, Doc." Ranma gained Tofus' attention and then gestured to Genma on the floor.

"Yes, yes, I'll get to him in a moment Ranma. I just have to finish with Kasumi here first." He had obviously failed to draw a connection between unconscious Genma and Kasumi's hurt hand.

"Now we just have to make sure when you arrive at the hospital that none of the medics touch that stuff. They'll not thank me if they can't feel their fingers for the next eight or so hours. Of course I'll be with you, but if we both remind them there's less chance of it happening. Now Tendo-san where's the phone." He turned to face Soun as he asked his final question.

"That's okay Dr. Tofu, I already called." Nabiki said as she sauntered back into the family room.

"Thanks Nabiki I'd really rather she got there as soon as possible." Looking slightly relieved he started to walk over to Genma before freezing at her next words.

"Oh sure, no prob Doc. I'll just put it on your tab shall I?" She looked at Tofu innocently as the rest of the room started to errupt in outrage. "Come on can't anyone take a joke? You did hear me earlier when I said I don't do that kind of thing anymore, didn't you? And besides, I wouldn't do that to the Doc or Kasumi." She looked miffed that anyone would think she'd go that low. Then had the grace to blush as she thought of some of the stunts she'd pulled for money in the past. Of course things had changed since the failed weddings, she'd realized too late that she was hurting her own sister, and even Ranma, who now seemed to be part of the family to her. Nothing like hindsight to make a point for you.

"Yes well Nabiki, I don't think there's any call for that kind of humour at the moment." Tofu's tone turned slightly chilly as he looked at the young woman. Then he continued on his way to Genma.

Nabiki winced, 'Oops, that didn't go the way I thought it would.'

Dr Tofu knelt next to Genma and began a thorough physical examination. "I need someone to tell me what happened to him. It looks like he got hit with a wrecking ball." 'Yeah right, he got hit by a Kasumi, is what he got hit by.' Ranma thought to himself. 'Still not sure how she did it, but whoa, sure looked great.'

Nodoka began to explain how they had been planning Ranmas' escape when Genma had put a spoke in the wheel, so to speak. She went on and told him of Soun's punch, and Ranma using the Ultimate Weakness Moxibustion on him. Then Dr. Tofu jumped into the conversation.

"I can't believe you'd hit him like that Ranma, I mean with him being so weak and all." He looked at the young martial artist with a cold condemning look.

"Wasn't me Doc, honest. Anyway if I hadda hit him in that condition we'da been calling a funeral director not a doctor. We needed someone who wasn't a strong martial artist so we could test if the technique worked." Ranma released a sigh of relief as the doctors gaze slid away from him and Akane. Akane smiled, seemed the doctor took her seriously as a martial artist after all, it was nice that someone did.

"Hey don't look at us, we didn't do anything." Nabiki looked Tofu straight in the eye, which with Nabiki was no guarantee of honesty. The looks of the two behind her however convinced him.

"So who's responsible for this?"

"Well if you had let me finish before jumping to conclusions I would have told you. We kind of elected Kasumi for the task. Now hold on, we had valid reasons for asking her, and we knew there was no way Genma would retaliate against her if we were wrong. You know how much he likes Kasumis' cooking." Nodoka paused and then offered him a reassuring smile.

"Okay I know who, now I need to know how. I mean the wall, the furrow through those gardens, how could someone as gentle as Kasumi do that?" He looked around confused, hoping that someone would tell him it was a joke or something.

"Not quite sure how she did it Doc. I mean she was standing there refusing to hit him, when he started insulting her, said some real nasty things, that's when she snapped. As for the punch well she gave up martial arts years ago, didn't even use a real stance, I'da said she shouldn't be able to punch like that, but I saw her do it. If I were you Doc I'd check her ki reserves and her chi flows, she's probably gonna feel backlash at some point." Ranma looked concerned.

Dr Tofu was looking at Kasumi, rather closely, he wasn't sure he believed everything he'd been told, but her body-language was slowly convincing him. The woman in question was blushing for all she was worth, she watched as her toe drew patterns on the floor. "Is that true Kasumi, did you hit Saotome-san?"

She glanced up at the doc then back down. Speaking quietly she squeaked a yes for him.

"Oh, well that's alright then." He chuckled darkly to himself. He continued to examine Genma, some of the others winced as they heard Genmas' joints being rearranged. Ranma held up a white placard with 'Technique' written above a 9.9, while Akane held a similar sign saying 'Artistic Interpretation' followed by 9.6. Dr Tofu smiled while thinking 'Oh well looks like I'll have to try harder in the future.' Then he turned back to his recently finished work 'Martial artist to infinity' and then turned to Ranma and said "I think we need to take Saotome here to the hospital for observation, I think he may have a fractured skull, and I'm not really sure about the rest without any equipment. At this stage I'm just making educated guesses. In any case I'll let the 'professionals' sort him out." He was thinking dark thoughts to himself. 'He insulted Kasumi did he, well he got what he deserved then. He's safe for the moment, but the second he regains consciousness he's going to answer to me.' Ranma shivered as the temperature dropped in the room, and the expression on Dr Tofus face wasn't helping any. For a few minutes silence descended as several people thought about not ever making the good doctor angry at them. Then Ranma made the descision to have his chat with Akane a little sooner.

"Hey Akane, I think I'm ready to have that talk now." He whispered in her ear, he sounded totally serious. Akane shivered as his warm breath did strange things to her nerve endings, strange but nice things. Talk about mixed signals.

"O.k. just give me a second. Where do you want to have this talk Ranma?"

"The dojo is probably the best place, I'll meet you out there." Having said that he walked out without a backwards glance. Leaving Akane to wonder if she was going to like what he had to say, she turned away from the open door. She had to find out what was happenning with her sister before she'd have a chance to find out what was going on with her fiancé.

"Ah, father, what's happenning with Kasumi, are you going with her to the hospital?"

"Of course I am, so are Nokaka and Dr. Tofu. Would you like to come as well?" He looked at both his youngest daughters in turn.

"No father, I think I'll stay here and plan out what we're going to do over the next few days."

"I'm sorry dad, Ranma needs to talk to me. Could you give us a call when you know more please?" She pleaded with her eyes, she hated to be torn between two things she knew were important.

"Okay, I can do that Akane. It may take some time to find out anything though, so don't be surprised if you get a call sometime towards morning."

"That's okay dad, I'd really rather know how she is, and somehow I don't think I'm going to sleep very well anyway. Good luck Kasumi, I hope it's not too bad." She slowly turned away and walked out to the dojo. Outside the temperature had fallen a little. Clouds had rolled in from the sea as the sun had finally set, and trapped all the humidity, it felt horrible as there was no breeze to make it bearable. Up above a pale disc of light could be seen through the layer of cloud, very little of that light made it to the ground, making it hard to see the pathway. As she neared the open doors she spotted the dark silhoutte of her fiancé.

"Hey baka why didn't you turn the lights on." She fumed, she'd stubbed her toe on a rock on her way over and was now looking for someone to blame. As per usual the two rules of Neriman life had struck again. Rule 1 states that if anything goes wrong it's automatically Ranmas' fault. Rule 2 states that in the unlikely event that Ranma wasn't responsible see Rule 1.

"Akane, I was just sitting here enjoying the night air. We don't need the light to sit here and talk. And in anycase I think I'll find it easier to say the things I need to in the dark."

"Okay that makes sense I suppose." She sat down with her legs dangling over the side of the dojos' porch. "Now what was it you wanted to talk about?"

"Er, as you know I'll be leaving soon." Ranma mentally slapped himself upside the head, 'Man that was lame, she already knows that.'

"You didn't bring me out here to tell me the obvious did you Ranma? 'Cos if you did I'm going to bed." She'd started to fume the second he opened his mouth.

"Yeah okay, but what may not be so obvious is the reasons why Akane." He kind of mumbled the last bit to himself.

"Would you mind getting to the point sometime before the new millenium sets in?"

"Umm, Akane?"

"Yes?"

"Could you just shut up for a few minutes? I'm having enough trouble figuring out what to say without you pressuring me."

"WHAT! How dare you tell me to shut-up." The dark night faded as a red aura flared up around the irate young woman.

"That's it. I'm going back in. I'm just so tired Akane." Ranma sighed as he backed away from her.

"So what? I'm tired too, yet I still came out here to talk." Confusion laced her tone of voice. And why was Ranma backing away from her?

"Yeah but I think we're tired of different things Akane. Me, well I'm tired that everytime something don't go your way you mallet me." He was resigned to his fate now, bracing his body for impact. 'But I'll be damned if I'm not gonna finish this now.'

"What do you mean, I wasn't going to mallet you."

"Yeah sure, Akane, just like you never malleted me all those other times. Everytime Ukyo or Xian Pu did something to me, you'd mallet me. Why'd you never mallet them?"

"Well you always just stood there and let her glomp you, and then you'd make no attempt to get away. You'd just stand there and let her rub herself all over you. Why'd you think I was so angry?"

"Ummm. Akane you do know the Amazon Glomp is an advanced martial arts technique don't you?"

"Right, pull the other one baka. Do you think I'm stupid enough to fall for that crap?"

"I think it's time I demonstrated this for you then. You don't trust me to tell you the truth, right?" Ranma turned to the dojo, then walked over and flipped the lights on. Akane squinted as the bright lights hit her eyes, after the darkness of the night it was almost painful. "Come on then get in here." Ranma walked to the sink inside the doorway and splashed himself with water then she walked to the center of the dojo.

"That'll do. Stand right there. Now I've seen this technique so many times I could do it in my sleep. After Jusendo I also figured out a defence against it. Why do you think she hasn't succeeded in getting me for a while? Enough about that, prepare to defend yourself Akane. Now remember you can't use attacks as I'm in girl form and you're supposed to be me as a male okay?" Ranma moved to the far corner of the room then turned and faced his opponent. Crouching slightly he used his powerful leg muscles to spring forward parallel to the ground. A split second later he had a stunned Akane in her arms. The victim hadn't had time to react, and even if she had she hadn't known which way to go, as it had seemed that there were multiple Ranma-chans approaching.

"Okay that's the first part, did you notice the afterimage technique? That's right I never knew which one was the real Xian Pu, so I couldn't avoid her. I figured the Amazon Glomp is the first step in training for the Splitting c-ca-c-cat hair technique. Though I'm still not sure about the transition to the more advanced technique as I've only seen it once. Now here's the second part. You've got to remember, you're a big strong male who was raised not to hurt girls okay?" After recieving a slight nod from Akane she continued. "So now I want you to remove my hold on you. Go ahead, but you can't attempt to hurt me okay." Akane raised her hands and started to push Ranma away. Looking at his face she saw him start to smirk.

"What are you smiling about you baka?"

"Well maybe you should look at what your pushing against Tom-boy." His smile widened as Akane looked down and started to blush. "I never knew you felt that way about me Akane. I mean touching my breasts like that, gee I guess you really do like me." Now Akane just hoped the ground would open up and swallow her.

"Oh but there's more, why don't you try a leg sweep? Be warned there are two counters to that." Ranma had a very evil grin on his face now, this was more fun than he'd realized. Akane attempted to use her limited leverage to sweep her opponents legs, that was when Ranma simply lifted her legs to both sides then wrapped them round the others waist. Now they were both feeling extremely warm, this was more intimate than they'd ever been with each other.

"Ah I kind of like this one Akane. But there's one more counter you could try. Try a leg hook, I dare you." Akane hesitated for a moment, but then shrugged. She had forgotten how strong Ranma-chans' arms really were, so when she went to one foot to accomplish the leg hook she was automatically off balance. When she threw Ranma off balance, she refused to release her grip and both girls ended up prone on the floor. Akane was on top looking into Ranma-chans eyes. Ranma's grin got wider if that was possible.

"Wo ai ni, Airen!" Then she tightened her arms even more, before she released Akane and gave into her laughter. She giggled outright at the expression on Akanes face, the other girl had never been so embarrased in her life and it showed.

"Now do you see why I stand there and let her do that? If she manages to get hold of me there's no way to escape which doesn't hurt her or make the situation worse." Ranma looked smug as Akane absorbed the implications of what she'd been shown.

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Uh, you sure you really want to know?" At the slight nod she gave him he continued. "Simple answer, you always malleted me first, then never asked questions or wanted to hear explanations. Hey don't look at me like that, you name one occasion where you really gave me the benefit of the doubt. Well? Go on." Ranma waited patiently until the blank look on her face started to get to him.

"Okay too hard for you on short notice? Well I'll give you some time, I reckon I'll be gone for maybe six months. That should give you some time to think about where out relationship started and where it's going to."

"Why do you have to go in the first place? Why can't you stay here and sort it out?" Akanes' eyes began to shimmer as her confusion and hurt started to get the better of her.

"As I said before Akane, I'm tired. I can't catch a break no matter which way I turn. Since Jusendo I've felt really bad, especially when I think that I killed Saffron. Don't bother telling me I didn't kill him, cause the truth is I did. I tore him limb from limb, I knew I had to, because I wasn't strong or fast enough to make him back down. The truth is I was too weak to stop him any other way, and I know I'm too weak to handle the emotional crap that came with it. Throw in Nabiki sabotaging our relationship every chance she got, the kunos' either hating or loving me in respect to what ever sex I happened to be at any given point in time, then there's those stupid Amazons' with their marriage laws, our parents. And lastly there's Ryoga."

"What about Ryoga, we haven't even seen him for a while so how can he be stressing you out." Akane snapped at him, 'He's not even here and Ranma's picking on him.'

"With all that's happened tonight Akane, would you say I had any honour worth protecting at the moment?"

"Well no since your father made you ronin, I'd have to say you were clear of concerns of honour." Now she was just plain confused.

Ranma sighed in relief. "I've wanted to tell you this for the longest time. But Ryoga made me swear not to reveal his weakness."

"What are you talking about Ranma? Ryoga's one of the strongest men I know."

"Yeah well at some times that would not be the truth. Do you know where he caught up with me in China? That's right, he caught up with us near the cursed training grounds. In fact he met us on the day I was cursed. I was too busy chasing Pops at the time to notice when I knocked him off the low cliff above the training ground. Yeah well, I'm not the only one with a curse, but at least I stay human, and Pops is still big enough to defend himself." Akane was beginning to fear hearing what he had to say. "Allright as you don't even want to ask where this is going I'll tell you. Ryoga fell in the pool of drowned little black pig. Then when he came out Pops found him and threatened to eat him. That's the real reason he hates me."

"Why? Why didn't you tell me? He listened to all my doubts and fears, he, he saw me change. The bastard slept in my bed. WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?" She started to pummell Ranmas' chest.

"I hinted all the time Akane, it was the only thing I could do. I was always calling him names to do with pigs, I even called him P-chan on a number of occasions, but instead of thinking it through you always took his side and told me to stop picking on him. And all that time he'd told us that he'd destroy my happiness. Well he couldn't beat me in a fight but while he played your pet P-chan he didn't have to did he? As for why I never told you outright, my honour wouldn't let me. He knew how strong my honour was and that I'd never betray him once I gave my word, then right after that he came to you." Tears had begun to stream down Akanes cheeks as all of his words tore into her, she had no defence as time after time her memory pulled up times where Ryoga had laughed while he used something she'd told him against Ranma.

Silence fell for a few moments. "That's why I have to leave Akane, deep down you don't trust me. I just need to find out what's important to me now. Once I've got a better idea of who I am I'll come back and we'll have another talk, see if we have anything to salvage. Now as you said it's getting late, maybe we should go to bed huh?" Looking depressed he headed for the door.

"But I want to fix this if we can."

Turning back to Akane he spoke for the last time that night. "There's nothing to fix at this point Akane. You don't trust me, and I don't think I can stand to be around you while I think this through. I certainly know we can't deal with all the others while we think about this. Good night Akane." Akane watched him turn away and walk out the door, as he faded from sight she dropped to her knees and began to sob.

Authors Note:- Hope you liked this chapter even half as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'd like to think that there were a few twists in this chapter and maybe even a chuckle. Who would have thunk Kasumi had a punch in her like that? Er yeah I suppose thats true, I would. Okay some people may be thinking to themselves "Kasumi go BOOM, why Kasumi go BOOM?"(DBZ Majin Buu reference) Okay simple answer, the whole punch was done in something like 0.2 of a second, put simply she broke the sound barrier. So not only was Genma hit with a Ki laden fist, he also got hit by the wall of condensed air, and vacuum that followed the fist. This is similar to the vacuum blades Genma can use except over a broader surface.

The Amazon Glomp is the precursor to the Splitting Cat Hairs technique, and was later developed to help advanced Amazon warriors to progress to the much harder job of splitting into many different images spread over a large distance. What happens is the attacker causes multiple images to appear around her body, not only that but they phase back into and out of the attackers body, some stay still and others rotate around the body as they phase, and there's no common speed or direction i.e. there's no discernible pattern. Oh and just to clear it up aiming for the central image is no garuantee as it may also be an after image. To make things even harder on the victim each of the images is infused with chi so that they show to ki senses as a solid or real threat. That's the real reason Ranma always looked like a deer caught in headlights when he was glomped.

This story is going to be even longer than I originally thought, going by length of chapter and time elapsed. Theres much story to tell. All the early chapters will be kind of resolution chapters. Hey, everyone else got a chance to do it so why not me? Having said that I don't plan to resolve every little detail, just the ones that will impact with the story at a latter date. Some things will get resolved at a different time. The story itself may take ten or more chapters to really get to the nitty gritty but they will be vital components in what I hope becomes a well rounded fic. After all you can't build a castle of fantasy if you can't also give it a strong foundation.

As always - _as always he says, ark at him writes one lousy chapter and it's as always, hah _- Er where was I? Oh yeah as always any C&C is greatly appreciated, but send me no flames - _gee rolls off the tongue don't it, maybe you should write songs instead _- Will you shut the hell up I'm trying to speak to my reader here - _Don't you mean readers? _- Well I suppose I can hope, can't I?

Right thats it next time you interrupt I'm gonna hunt you down - _sheesh_ - (Sounds of a graphically violent nature in the background) Ah thats better - _groan Sez you _- Now please check my homepage for my e-mail address

If you really don't like what I write please let me know why. Can't change those things if I don't realise I'm doing them. Just so we're clear though, I am the author. If I don't think your suggestions will help with the story line I won't use them, but theres no harm in suggesting.

If you really don't like it, and nothing seems to be helping, then I suggest that you find a fanfic that you can enjoy, because thats what it's all about, both for you and me.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello yet again, seems like some people have enjoyed what I've written so far. I was surprised it was so well received by the majority of reviewers. I am kind of disappointed that the first reviewer refused to read my fanfic because of a spelling mistake. Oh well his loss. Now as that reviewer pointed out, I persistently mis-spelled the word Phoenix. Now I didn't do that on purpose, so I'll apologize for the lapse. My only defense is I haven't seen it written down in a long time, so I chose to spell it phonetically, i.e. phe-o-nix. I just knew I'd get it wrong. Oh well, such is life.

As some people may have noticed I promised that this would be out quickly, well that didn't happen. I'm not going to claim writers block, as that's not true. What I have is a case of readers block; that's where I start to read all of the new and updated fan fictions to the exclusion of everything else. So if all the other fan fiction writers out there would please stop writing I might actually be able to get some work done. LOL.

Please keep the C&C coming, it helps me to fill in holes in the plot at a later date

As I fired 'Disclaimer Boys' little ass in the last chapter I suppose I'll have to do it myself.

If I were a rich man bu ba bu ba bu babububu ba, buba buba ba

I'd have all the money in the world

If it were a perfect world - yeah.

But as I sit here writing bu ba bu ba bu babububu ba, buba buba ba

I know, all the things, I write about,

Aren't mine, so-oo don't sue me.

(To the soundtrack from fiddler on the roof)

Ah, nothing like a rousing sing along, and let me tell you that, was nothing like a rousing sing along.

"Phoenix Ascension"

**Chapter 2**

Breakfast at Tendo-sans

Ranma blinked himself awake, he didn't remember falling asleep, just the seemingly endless tossing and turning as he tried to make himself comfortable. But there had been no comfort as the things that made him feel that way were on the inside, and he couldn't see any way to get rid of them. He stared up at the ceiling he'd woken up to for the last couple of years. Noting the cracks and lumps that had become familiar friends to him, as he'd stared at them so many times as he lost himself in thoughts about the things that troubled him.

This time he focused solely on the previous night. When he'd walked through the family room to reach the stairs to his room the rest of the family had been gone. Out in the dojo they hadn't heard the ambulance as it had arrived or any of the commotion as the medics had rushed about their duties (see authors' notes to find out why).

All that was left to show that the family had been there that night were two pieces of paper sitting on the table. He'd picked up both papers as he knew that one was to do with him personally he didn't have any idea what the other one was about but he told himself he might read it in the morning. Nabiki had disappeared up to her room taking her computer and copy of Amazon laws with her.

'I wonder how they are. Is Kasumi all right, and Pops I wonder how he's doing? Dr. Tofu thought he might have a cracked skull. Heh, not that I didn't already know the old man was cracked. Did they call from the hospital last night as they said they would, or did they just come home? Oh well, laying here isn't going to get me any answers. Better go down and check, and get me some breakfast.' Though not necessarily in that order as his stomach grumbled in agreement to that last thought.

Ranma didn't move for a while but lay there calming his mind, letting his senses expand he began to feel the room about him. Previously unheard sounds became apparent, from the small fly beating itself to death against his window to the sound of someone stirring in the room next to his. As he came closer to his center his senses expanded even further to encompass most of the house, he could feel the gentle chi of other living beings in the house, the sounds of a living household entered his ears. Colors intensified, while above him the lumps and cracks reformed into low hills and canyons. Then, the sheer influx of information threatened to overwhelm him. He closed his eyes in a panic.

'What the hell was that? Never felt anything like that before, I mean I've been able to sense threats before, but I only knew they were near and roughly where they came from. I didn't know who they were, or if I did it was only because I was expecting them to show up. And I could never feel someone with a low chi before; they wouldn't even show up on my threat radar.'

Sitting up, he noticed he was sweating. 'Better grab a bath first.' Matching actions to words he rolled off his futon, which he quickly rolled up and placed on its shelf in the cupboard, and then he made his way to the stairs with his bath stuff in his hands and a change of clothes over his shoulder.

Downstairs Nodoka was preparing breakfast in Kasumi's well ordered kitchen. Akane had offered to help but she had known better than to accept.

"I think I have everything under control here Akane, but you could do something for me." 'Yes like never enter the kitchen while there's the slightest possibility that I might have to eat what you've prepared.' "Could you go and make sure Ranma and Nabiki are up?"

"Sure Nodoka-san just give me a second." She walked over and put the kettle on to heat. "If I know N-chan she's going to need a strong coffee before she's able to function."

"Thanks sis." Nabiki croaked as she stumbled into the kitchen looking a little like a prop from the movie 'Night of the living dead'. "Did I mention I reeaally hate mornings?" She started to rub the sleep from her eyes as she slumped into a seat at the kitchen table as her younger sister headed past her heading for the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey, Ranma get a move on or you're gonna be late for school!"

Ranma came out of the bathroom and touched her on the shoulder. "I'm not going to school today Akane."

"EEP! Don't do that you baka! You just scared the hell out of me." To be truthful she'd nearly gone through the ceiling at the unexpected presence of her fiancé. "And what do you mean you're not going to school today?"

"Hah! You call me baka? Did you forget I'm running away from all this?" Ranma gestured at the hallway and smirked at the stunned expression on her face. Running his fingers through his damp hair he turned towards the kitchen. "Now are you coming to breakfast or do I get to eat your share."

"Not on your life Ranma, don't you dare touch my food!" Ranma just winced at the thought of her food and kept walking, 'Man I hope she didn't have anything to do with breakfast.' Akane narrowed her eyes and glared as the young man in front of her strolled into the kitchen.

"Okay Akane, don't get your knickers in a twist, I was only joking." Ranmas' smile got even wider as he saw Nabiki sitting at the table waiting for the kettle to finish boiling.

"Hey Nabs how's it going this morning? Did you come up with any plans for the great escape?" He'd watched the movie a couple of weeks ago, and was really hoping he didn't have to tunnel anywhere.

"Come on, give us a break Ranma, I haven't even had a coffee yet." She groused at him in return. 'What's taking the kettle so long?' If she didn't get caffeine soon she was tempted to go back to sleep right here at the table.

"Righto, how'd you want it Nabiki?" Ranma made his way over to the cooker to prepare coffee.

"I'd take it intravenously right now Ranma." She watched blearily as he touched the kettle.

"Ah, who put the kettle on?"

"I did, what's the problem?"

"You do realize it helps if you light the gas don't you?" Again with the patented Ranma smirk.

"I did light it. Didn't I?"

"Yeah, whatever." He watched in interest as Nabiki started to bang her head on the table. "Uh Mom, I think I'll just steal some of the water you put on for soup. I think Nabs here needs some coffee real quick."

"Good morning, Son. Sure go ahead. Did you get any sleep last night?" Nodoka asked as she walked back into the kitchen after setting the breakfast table.

"Yeah, I think so, or at least I don't remember tossing around for more than a couple of hours." He placed a cup of coffee next to Nabiki's head and then watched as her hand grasped blindly for its handle. She still hadn't looked up when she knocked the cup enough to spill near scolding water onto the backs of her fingers. "Hssss, dammit Ranma." Nabiki brought her fingers to her mouth and sucked them for a second. She then turned her head up and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "Have you got any other crap you'd like to throw my way before I get some coffee?" Ranma was just glad she was aiming her comment at the Kami. He'd take Nabiki being angry at him, but a Nabiki who hadn't had her first cup of the day, frankly, scared the hell out of him.

Just to change the subject before it got out of hand. "So how's Kasumi and Pops, Mom?" He thought about his question and realized that it no longer applied; it was taking some real getting used to not having a father.

"Well Genma is stable, the doctors aren't sure if he'll wake up any time soon though. Seems the impact with the compound wall did more damage to him than it did the wall. He has a depressed fracture that caused internal bleeding. They operated immediately to alleviate the pressure, but they don't know how much damage had already been done. They're not sure when or if he'll wake up at this stage." She wrinkled her brow; she wasn't sure how she felt about that at all.

"And Kasumi?"

"She's doing pretty well; they scheduled her for surgery on the wrist this afternoon. They have to reposition several bone splinters so it'll heal properly. They sedated her last night so she could sleep. And because she couldn't feel any pain in the hand they felt it would prevent her from doing further damage. Soun and Dr. Tofu stayed with her all night, though I'm expecting Tendo-san to come home a little later. Dr. Tofu was a little annoyed though, that intern really shouldn't have ignored him."

Ranma looked at his mother as he puzzled out her meaning. "What happened Mom?"

"Oh it's simple, the intern felt that some alternative practicing doctor couldn't possibly know as much as he did so he ignored the warnings we gave him. Ah well he should be able to feel his hands and nose again in a few hours." The smile that appeared on her face lit her eyes from within. It was the first smile she'd felt like giving since early the night before.

"His nose? How'd that happen?" Akane spoke up.

"Apparently that's what happens when you get an itch you can't ignore." Nodoka surprised everyone by giggling like a school girl.

In the meantime Nabiki had inhaled her first cup of coffee and was looking into her second. Just watching the steam rise was mesmerizing her. Her thoughts and plans did a slow waltz through her conscious mind as she tried to figure out what to do. She'd lain in bed for hours poring over her emotions, as she tried to reconcile this new Ranma over her previous beliefs that he was a brash and arrogant egotist. She had often felt he was a rough diamond, but now it was like a fine jeweler had taken the raw material and started the process of creating a gem. She was finding it hard to control her reaction to the new facets in his character. He had moved from the realms of exploitable sheep into being a possible ally faster than she'd thought possible, and if her sister screwed up the relationship with Ranma he might become even more, if she had anything to say about it. 'How the hell did that happen without me noticing? I know I don't go to the same school anymore, but Kami I must be slipping to have missed such a massive change.' She smiled to herself as she inhaled the aroma of life giving coffee. Then blinked as she heard Kasumi mentioned. Turning her head she listened as Nodoka told them of Kasumi's condition and then sighed in relief. She might look cold on the outside but to those who knew her she was truly a softy. Her love for her family was what drove her to do some of the things she did. Of course she admitted to herself she also loved the thrill of closing a deal, but compared to the wellbeing of her family that came a distant second.

"Okay Nabiki, you feeling a little more human now?" Ranma turned back to the older girl.

"Not sure but I think I might live. Now what's the blasted hurry? Your dad can't tell on us anymore, not with him in the hospital."

Ranma held his hand up to his lips asking for silence. When he started to talk again there was a shocked silence.

"I the dark sorcerer Saotome must away to the island of Hokkaido. There I shall find the last piece I need to subdue the Pig-tailed Goddess for all eternity. Hah and to think all I have to do is find the hidden temple of Amaterasu. BWA-HA-HA! I must pack as I leave in but a few moments. Come slave Akane you will do my bidding now." Akane started to steam around the ears as she listened to Ranma make his ludicrous speech. At the last statement she looked ready to explode into a pyrotechnics show the likes of which Japan had never seen(think 4th of July and New Years rolled into one). Ranma sat across from her making warding signs with his hands silently trying to forestall the impending eruption. Nabiki and Nodoka looked just as stunned, they didn't know what was going on but Nabiki had seen enough scams to realize one was underway right in front of her. So she reached over and grabbed her sister by the back of the head then held her hand over her mouth. Akane stilled in surprise as N-chan had never done anything like this before.

Ranma looked relieved as he watched a moving point retreat into the distance. "Phew! That was close." Sighing in relief he settled back into his chair and relaxed. Nabiki released her hold on her younger sister, which turned out to be a mistake.

"RANMA NO BAKA!" She stood in one smooth motion and produced her trusty mallet then brought it down where Ranma's head was.

Unfortunately for her Ranma had already been moving the second he saw Nabiki release her. The mallet went straight through the afterimage he had left behind. The shaft of said mallet wasn't so lucky, as she couldn't stop it's momentum it went straight through the table folding it in half. This had the unfortunate effect of catapulting Nabikis' second coffee into the far wall. The rice cooker that had sat on the other end of the table went the other way, lending whole new meaning to the term fast food.

"What the hell do you mean, SLAVE?" Akane screeched like a banshee. Akane fumed as she stomped towards Ranmas new position on the opposite side of the kitchen.

Nabiki sat in mourning, as she watched the remains of her coffee dribble down the far wall. 'It just wasn't fair, what did it ever do to Akane?'

The rice that had struck the opposite wall clung half way up, but that's because that was where it wanted to be. It was really too much, it had been great while it was in it's packet but then Akane had come along. Now it pondered existence as a small glutinous mass. Man that's depressing, maybe if I find a high enough place I'll be able to end it all. Slowly making its way down the wall to the floor it realized it had some control over its shape. Maybe life isn't so bad after all, as it sidled over the floor and past Ranma. It headed south, slowly absorbing any rice it came across. Until finally it reached the ward of Juuban, where the Sailor Senshi fought it in the name of love, justice and the right of Japanese people everywhere not to have there Onigiri(rice balls) try to eat them. Ranma gave the rice an 8 if only for mobility's sake. Nabiki considered selling her sister to a bio-weapons firm, after all her coffee still needed avenging for its untimely demise. She should make a tidy profit since they had only worked their way up to viral and bacterial weapons. Nodoka was wondering just when it was that Akane had touched the rice cooker.

"That's enough Akane! Sit down and let my son explain." Turning to Ranma she said. "And it had better be good or you'll answer to me as well." The cold glare she sent his way sent a shiver down his spine.

"We had a spy." Akane looked skeptical. "It's true; it was that little toad-like henchman of the Kuno's. He would have told Tatewaki everything we said. The last thing I need right now is for that idiot and his sister following me."

"Yeah that's right; one idiot in any given place is more than enough." Akane grouched loud enough for them all to hear her.

"Oy Akane, I thought you said you wanted to try and fix our relationship. If ya do you've gotta strange way of showing it." Ranma sounded nearly as frustrated as he felt; it felt like two years of insulting each other was going to make it even harder to fix their ailing relationship.

Akane winced as she realized what she'd said. "S-sorry Ranma, it's just..." She trailed off frustrated herself, it all seemed so simple when she'd said she wanted to fix the relationship, but as is often the case putting it into practice was infinitely harder.

"I know. I know. Maybe it's best we just drop it until I get back Akane." Akane looked far from resigned to the situation.

"But..."

"No, Akane, I agree with Ranma, some time apart will do both of you more good than harm." Nodoka decided to help her son and possible daughter in law. "You're both to close to the problems to truly be able to see what they are, and if there's a way to fix them. Once you have a little distance you might stop reacting to each other and start thinking about each other." She smiled encouragingly at her son. 'How can he be so clueless? It's like he hasn't grown emotionally at all. Maybe I should ask Grand-father to find out just how naive Ranma actually is. I get the feeling Genma did even more harm than I originally thought. If I'm right, he'd better hope he doesn't wake from that coma anytime soon, else I'll have to put him right back in it.' She was still smiling for the benefit of the children but it no longer reached her eyes.

"Speaking of leaving what's the plan Nabiki?" Ranma was hoping the change of topic would lessen the tension in the air.

Nabiki turned from the kettle. "Hold on Ranma I still need my second cup of coffee." Filling another mug she returned to her seat. "Okay now the first plan is to have you thoroughly disappear by jumping on a ship and sailing away, Aunty here thinks she might be able to get one of your cousins to go in your place. Did you make any calls regarding that Aunty?"

"Not yet I was at the hospital until early this morning, I was going to call my uncle later this morning. He'll have a better idea if there might be someone interested."

"Right so there's a bit of a delay, but with Genma out of the picture that's not such a big problem, we have some room to breathe. Second plan is you leave a message that everyone will understand."

"What do you mean?" Ranma asked.

"Tell everyone you're going on a training trip and you don't want any company, then if they follow you beat them to a pulp. Even the hard heads around here will leave you alone if they think it's a legitimate training trip."

"Well I dunno. The Amazons are the main problem, if I beat Xian Pu again I'll just be making matters worse won't I?" Ranma looked at Nabiki doubtfully.

"Yes well I didn't say it was foolproof now did I? It'll probably make you feel better though. The first plan is still my favorite we just have to wait on your mothers' phone call."

"So what, now I just sit here and twiddle my thumbs, huh?" Ranma wasn't used to being inactive, he always wanted to jump into the thick of things and then work out what to do to extricate himself. To put it mildly the inactivity was frustrating him no end.

"Hmmm. I wouldn't say that Ranma. We still have to work on how to get you far enough away from here that they can't track you easily."

"As far as I can see that's the easy part, and best of all no one'll see me even if I walked out in broad daylight." He smiled in genuine pleasure at the perplexed look on Akane and Nabiki's faces.

"How does that work Ranma? The second you walk out that door the whole neighbour-hood goes on alert." Akane smirked, she didn't have that problem. Then she frowned, why didn't she have that problem? 'Damn you Ranma!'

"Yeah they would if they could see me." Now he was smirking. "Okay don't tell me you've forgotten the Umi-Sen-Ken already."

"But didn't your father seal that technique?"

"Ah, not to put too fine a point on it, Nabiki, but what father? I haven't got a father anymore, and anyway he ain't in no position to stop me from usin' it even if he was awake."

"Even so Ranma I still think it shows a lack of ethics to use a sealed technique that doesn't belong to you."

"That's the good bit, Akane, it does belong to me." Ranma smiled around the room.

"Since when?"

"Well since I found there was a weakness in the technique. Pops used it all the time towards the end in our sparring matches, as it was the only way he stood a chance, but the more he used it the easier it became for me to see through it."

"Okay how'd you manage that one? I know he's not really invisible as I've seen him on the surveillance cameras' in the compound when he's in the Umi-sen-ken." Nabiki frowned, when did he have time to develop a new technique?

"Alright to put it simply he removes all traces of his ki turning it inwards and focusing it so tightly that it can't escape, a little like one'a those black hole things we were told about in science last week. As no ki escapes, there's nothing to sense."

"Yeah I get that, so how do you break it?" Nabiki was now all ears as this could be some truly profitable information if sold to the right people.

"Well there're two ways to break it. The first is simple, as he is still physically there any time dust or water or say paint hit him he'd become visible, at least until he re-worked the ki supression. That way is also the easiest to defeat as all he has to do is move quickly out of the way. The second technique is much harder as not many people have control over their auras. What you do is extend the aura out in a weak field as far as you can, then sense your own aura for the blank spot. That's how I do it anyway. Anytime he's within fifteen feet of me I know exactly where he is."

"Wow, that's quite impressive, I didn't think you were into thinking when you were fighting. So how did you improve it?"

"Uhh. Thanks, I think. When I thought about it for a while I learned that even the air has a ki aura, it's really not very strong but it's definitely there. So I recreate that aura and then allow any other auras to interact with it in the same way they would in normal air." Ranma looked rather smug as he basked in the smile his mother gave him. "So all I have to do is walk out the door and no-one's the wiser."

"Seems you've got that covered then. All we've got to decide now is where you're going" she sounded quite thoughtful as she pondered what to do next.

Nodoka turned and began to listen to the younger people.

"We already decided that he's going to my family compound in Okinawa. So all that's really left is to figure out where we're going to send one of the cousin's."

"Before I went to bed last night I checked the Internet to check what's in port. Going by what's docked at the moment there are only seven ships that are going anywhere useful in the next week, unless he goes to another city." Nabiki looked pleased with herself.

"Okay, so where are we sending me?"

"Looks like it'll be somewhere in Europe, as that's the longest voyage duration."

"We never went there on our training mission, I don't think I would have minded it. Very easy to get lost as well, and they have some interesting fighting styles in Europe."

"Yeah well, I don't think Europe is ready for the Saotomes." Nabiki smiled to take any sting out of her words.

"Right! Ha ha, very funny Nabiki. Ain't you just full of laughs once you've had some coffee." Ranma snorted.

"I suppose I'd better call my uncle then." As Nodoka made her way from the kitchen.

"So what's the plan Ranma? I know how you'll be getting out of Nerima, but once you're away from here how are you going to get them to follow you?"

"You know me, the second I drop the Umi-Sen-Ken they'll be able to find me easy. I mean the number of times I've been on the news most people in Tokyo should recognize me." Ranma managed a sickly smile, as most of the time the news had been interested in the damage he'd caused or been caused because of him.

"Okay, so it's really going to be easy."

"Nah, you should know nothing is ever easy where I'm concerned N-chan." Ranma scratched the back of his pigtail.

Nabiki sat there laughing.

"Well now that breakfasts over with I'm gonna go practice in the dojo."

_A few hours later in the dojo._

"Hey Ranma-kun I didn't know you have such a big family."

Ranma had heard her enter the dojo and brought his kata to smooth finish facing the dojo shrine. Then he turned to face Nabiki.

"Huh!"

"Your mother just got off the phone with her uncle. Seems quite a few cousins who are willing to help you. They must really want you in their clan badly."

"Think I better go and talk to mom." Ranma trotted out of the dojo and into the house.

"So how did it go?" Ranma asked, finding his mother sitting at the dinner table.

"It went better than I expected it to. I thought it would take longer but it seems that there are a few of my nephews who are willing to step in for you."

"Really?" Ranma sounded surprised, and quite pleased. It had only been in the last six months that any of his so-called friends would help him out without being cajoled into it first.

"Yes, my son, the clan Itsunagi is like that. We tend to help each other as much as possible."

"Think I might like that. It'd make a change from the way Pop handles things. He's more likely to throw me into the deep end and see if I can swim, and then throw me back in with weights just to make sure."

"Well that's no longer a problem is it? Your father is now out of the picture." Nodoka's face was now grim at the reminder of what had happened the night before. There was still a certain document that needed signing.

"Hey, Nabiki, so when the next ship to Europe?"

"There's one leaving on the evening tide, or one in three days time. Your choice Ranma."

"Er, I think I'd like to go as soon as possible, you know it's a bit like taking a band-aid off, the sooner done the better." Ranma began to scratch the back of his head but then thought better of it and the lowered his hand.

With that in mind, Ranma walked off to his room and began to pack. Not that there had ever been much that he owned, but he wasn't leaving any of it behind. The old battered traveling pack that had served him so well looked every one of its 12 years. Like an old friend he wasn't going to replace it just because the seams weren't as strong as they used to be. Ranma looked up at a gentle knocking on his door.

"Yeah! Come in Nabiki."

"How'd you know it was me?" Nabiki was puzzled, but as per usual her face remained impassive.

"Er, ¥5,000 if you really want to know." Ranma smirked at the startled expression on Nabiki's face.

"What!"

"I always wanted to say that, just to see how you'd react. All right, since this morning I've been feeling weird. And before you say it, I mean more than normal."

"In what way?" Nabiki was smiling, as this was the first time that Ranma had twisted her own favorite catchphrase.

"It's just that I began to sense things more intensely. Like I could feel everyone in the house, not just where, but who." Ranma wasn't sure how to explain it. He never felt anything like it before.

"Okay, that's weird, but like as long as I've known you, you can't really surprise me anymore.

"Wanna bet?"

"Not a chance." No way she was going to lose money on that proposition.

"So what were you after, Nabiki?"

"So are you going to settle your tab before you leave?"

"Tab? What tab?"

"You know, the money you owe me for the things I've done for you."

"Don't you mean to me? And any way you have the negatives to those photos."

"What's your point Ranma?"

"Well I know you're not going to stop selling them, so you'll either have to erase my so-called tab, or cut me in for half."

"No way, I did all the work for those photographs, so I get all the money."

"Bit shortsighted there Nabiki. You see, if I take this to arbitration, they might think that you did this without my permission. I mean I really don't know where they'd get that impression, but," he waved his hands around at the vagaries of officials, "That would mean that I get the negatives and the money."

Nabiki went slightly pale at that, she didn't have a lot of money on hand and if they demanded she make restitution she'd be seriously broke.

"But I don't want to do that, all I want is for you to wipe the slate clean."

"Right, okay, consider it done." This was going to be a bit tricky dealing with Ranma now. She had to remember that he was acting a lot smarter than he used to. Ranma smiled openly for the first time in quite awhile.

"Thanks, Nabiki, that's big of ya. Oh, one other thing, those photographs had better not end up anywhere I won't like. By that I mean in Magazines, and you know the type I mean. Trust me on this I'll know if you do, because all I'll have to do is ask Daisuke or Hiroshi." Ranma's mind seemed to flicker as he thought of all her possible responses to that statement.

"Right, right message received loud and clear. No men's magazines. What about other types of magazines?"

"Hmmm, if you can arrange that kind of thing, I might do a little modeling for you. But it's gonna be professional and like the professionals as my agent you get 10 percent of what ever is made. Just don't set anything up until I get back."(Any questions here refer to A/N)

Nabiki's eyes became two little ¥ signs as she thought of the possible royalties of brokering that kind of deal.

"Three to six months should give you plenty of time to figure something out. Just ask Mom for a contact number so you can let me know what's happening."

"Thanks, Ranma, you'd think with all the pretty girls around here that I would've thought of that first."

"What'cha talking about Nabiki?"

"I could start a modeling agency."

"Yeah, I could see you pulling that off. And it has the added advantage of being legit."

"Gotta think." Nabiki wandered from the room with a dazed smile on her face. Ranma then licked his finger and made a mark in the air. Score one for Ranma.

Ranma picked his backpack up, then promptly put it back down again so that he could take the hundred kilos of weight out of the bottom so that he didn't further damage the pack. It's not like he really needed that type of training anymore.

A quick reshuffle and 10 minutes later Ranma made his way downstairs to find his mother and Akane sitting at the dining room table.

"So where's this place I'm going mom?"

"I've got it written down here Ranma." She said as she held out a piece of paper for him. "Talking of paper Ranma, what happened to the two pieces of paper on the table?"

"Er, they're upstairs."

"Could you get them for me son?"

"Sure, be back down in the second." With that he put his pack down and seemed to blur, then as quickly as he'd gone he snapped back into place with two pieces of paper hanging from his hand. "Are these the ones you meant mom?" Ranma stood looking at the blinking matriarch of the Saotome clan.

Akane reached over and took the paper so that she could read what they were.

"Well this one's the adoption papers, but these look like divorce papers."

"What? For who?"

"Uhh, those would be mine Ranma. Since your father took you away I haven't really missed him. I spent 10 years pining for you. I shed tears for a long time. But for him, I really felt nothing, you have to realize we had an arranged marriage. I really thought that given time we might grow to at least like if not love each other. (please see A/N to find out why Nodokas family would arrange a marriage to Genma whom they don't like.)

But then he went away, taking you with him. It was then that I found that we had nothing to build a relationship on. Then I waited for him to return with you, and I waited, as time passed I felt less and less for him, especially as I had to fix all the things that he'd done wrong over the years. Then I waited for you. When you finally returned I really didn't want anything to do with him, but to you he was your father, and I would put up with him for you. Then I began to learn the things he did to you, the things he called training. And that was it, I couldn't be near him anymore. I lost what little respect I had remaining for him and I just had to get out the relationship."

"Gee mom I never knew you felt that way before." Ranma wasn't sure what he was feeling at this point in time he'd known that his father wasn't really welcome in his mother's home. That was the real reason he'd spent so much time at the Tendos dojo. Not that his father had minded the sake and the games of shogi. He'd have to think about it later though while he was traveling south, because he certainly didn't have the time to do it now. "We are going to have to talk about this sometime, Mom. If you really want to do it I know where Pops keeps his chop and I'm sure the Tendos would be willing to say they witnessed him sign the papers, I know I would."

"I'm sure we could come to some kind of agreement."

"Nabiki! I thought we had sorted that out!"

"I'm joking, just joking. There's no need to bite my head off."

"Oh, I don't know about that."

"Hey! Stop flirting with my sister!" Akane slowly started to get up from the table.

"Oh stop that Akane. We're just mucking around. That's one of the reasons I have to go, you always jump to conclusions."

"Um, sorry about that Ranma, it's just habit. I'll work on that while you're away."

"You'd better or there's not much reason for me coming back. Speaking of that, I'd better make a move."

"What, now?"

"Sure, gives me plenty of time to get there," Ranma will down the paper that told him where he was going. "All right, got it. So I'm going to meet Shuichi Itsunagi near dock 27bs' security gate. You sure he's OK with this?"

"He's fine with it, actually he's quite eager. From what I hear he's always had a bad case of wanderlust."

Ranma made his way to the door with his pack slung over his shoulder.

"So I'll be seeing you, Akane," he said, making no move to approach her. "Catch you later Nabs," he turned a knowing glance at her, "and don't forget what we talked about."

Walking over to his mother he took her hands in his own and looked her in the eyes. "I'm going to miss you, I never want to feel the way I did on the training journey when I didn't know if you were alive or dead. Keep in touch, or maybe you could come visit."

"I'd like that Ranma, but maybe we should leave it for a couple of months."

"Yeah maybe." Reaching out gently he touched her cheek, then turned slowly towards the door and walked away.

-o0O0o-

Meanwhile in the cat Café a certain Elder was gazing into a bowl of water.

"So, son-in-law has decided to move away for a while." She wasn't really surprised not with all the stuff that had happened over the last two years. She was surprised that he hadn't made the move earlier. 'It's lucky the children are off on a training mission, I'd really hate to see them try to stop him. After Jusendo that would be a foolish move to make indeed.'

-o0O0o-

Ranma sat on an east bound train. His silk shirt fluttered and snapped in the breeze, and his pig tail waved wildly out behind him. He leaned casually against his pack thinking to himself that this was the only way to travel, well besides roof hopping but when he had to travel this kind of distance, this was it. He'd decided on leaving the dojo that he would travel most of the way by train and then make the last leg on foot. On that note, he realized it was nearly time to get off the train, slipping on his pack he waited for the train to slow down, then thought sod it and jumped off any way. Ricocheting of a telegraph pole, side of the shop and a moving taxi had just been for practice, he wasn't showing off, no, not Ranma, he wasn't like that. Of course the inevitable happened, the truck that followed the taxi splashed through a puddle leaving Ranma-chan to be gawked at by a stunned crowd. Chuckling nervously, she pushed her way through to people trying not to listen to their whispered conversations.

"Wasn't that a guy?"

"Wow she's cute!"

Deciding to make the best of it he broke into a dead run and disappeared down the road leaving the now wide-eyed group behind. Ranma-chan was blushing quite hotly as some of the over heard comments had been downright coarse. 'Damn these breasts, why are they always the first thing people comment about?' Jinking into an alley at high speed, she came to a sudden stop and found herself wrapped up in a pile of paper that had been following in her wake.

"Excuse me, young lady."

Ranma-chan turned quickly and found herself facing a rather large stomach, then craned her neck upwards to look into the face of the person who spoke to her. Ugly was not a word to describe this person. That would not have done him justice. This man had fallen out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down.

"Er, can I help you?" Ranma-chan had been startled by the deep rumbling sound behind her.

"I think you might be able to, would you like to give me all of your figments?" As he said that he raised his left hand and closed his fist his knuckles making an unpleasant crunching sound.

"Er, figments?"

"Why yes. You see a long time ago money was usually something precious, like gold or silver or even rice. But then the Chinese decided it was easier to carry paper. Some merchants agreed that the paper had a set value usually backed by a precious commodity, as time went on its usage spread. Governments took it on, and now all money is just a figment of their imaginations," He beamed down at the diminutive redhead.(Who would've guessed an educated thief).

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Well, I would consider it, say, robbery if I took your pack. That's a physical thing. Now a piece of someone's imagination well that's hardly robbery is it? I mean, in reality it doesn't exist."

"You're right about that."

"What do you mean by that?" The huge thug frowned adding several degrees to his ugliness.

"I ain't got no money, so I can't give you any, but I have got something you can have."

The thug started to smile, which, by the way, still didn't improve his looks. 'This could be interesting' as he contemplated what the little girl might give him.

"And what might that be, little girl?"

"This!" Ranma-chan became a vertical blur that stopped right in front of his face. In an axel move most ice skaters would kill for he executed a spinning kick just above the thug's solar plexus sending him ass over tea-kettle.

Ranma stomped out of the alley way and up to the prone form of the giant. Wheezing for breath the thug tried to sit up only to have a small foot pressed against his throat.

"So you think I'm an easy mark?" The redhead stepped off of him only to pull her tiny foot back and deliver a devastating kick to his jaw rendering him unconscious. 'Not bad, that's two crowds in one day,' she looked up at an errant passing cloud, ' could I just make it to the dock without anything else happening.'

At that point several police arrived asking questions. After several minutes of very fast talking, Ranma-chan again started towards the docks. The police, having decided that the paddy wagon would be useless, had called for a tow truck.

After a 30 minute run where it wasn't unusual for the young girl to bounce off the under side of third story balconies and anything else that wasn't moving. She could see her destination ahead. Now to find dock 27b and a certain young man.

He had to admit he was looking forward to meeting Shuichi Itsunagi, as he would be the first of the Itsunagi clan that he would ever meet. Well except for his mother.

Ranma came to a skidding halt and began to survey his surroundings. She found himself standing on a busy wide street near an extra-wide gate that could take double traffic both in and out. Security and customs officers bustled around checking cargo and any people passing through the gate. Off the one side, making the security guards noticeably edgy, stood a young man dressed in Ranma's trademark red and black ensemble. 'That's got to be him'. And so thinking made her way over to the young man. Getting closer she was surprised to see that the young man was an almost mirror image of her when in male form, the hair, eyes and stature were all very similar. As she got closer something else happened, Shuichi straightened up, came to attention, and paid much closer attention as the young woman approached.

"Hi there, you must be Shuichi." Ranma extended a tiny calloused hand only to have it engulfed by a much larger hand. If Ranma had of been less naïve she probably would have noticed Shuichi's obvious interest in her, but as the Amazon's had discovered Ranma had a few peculiar blind spots even after dealing with Xian Pu for a couple of years.

"That's me. How can I help you?" Shuichi smiled widely at the young redhead before him. At the thought of redhead he remembered something his uncle had said to him earlier.

-flashback-

"Now son you're probably going to meet a beautiful young lady today. What ever you do don't hit on her."

"Why's that uncle?"

"From what I hear she hits back."

"But that's a good thing isn't it?" Shuichi was confused now.

"No, the last guy who did that got put through a foot thick concrete wall."

Shuichi developed a sweat drop of giant proportions.

-end of flashback-

End of Chapter 2

Authors notes: - Some people have probably asked how an ambulance could approach and not be heard from at least a block away. Well the answer is Nerima is a quiet little village with little in the way of traffic especially at night. That means the ambulance only required its' flashing lights to make its' presence felt; especially as it's late at night. Hope that clears some confusion.

As to how Ranma's new hyper-aware state is achieved don't look at me. I'm not a super powerful martial artist. Though sometimes I have to admit it would be nice. Many many people vex me, and I feel they would vex me less if they attained a state of unconsciousness. Give me a little time and I'll probably think up a reasonable explanation.

Note on arranged marriage of Genma to Nodoka Itsunagi. When the marriage was arranged the Itsunagi clan had no real knowledge of Genma other than he was a good martial artist from a samurai family in good standing(I did say the family was in good standing, nothing was said about Genma). Nodoka is not fast and strong because of just her training, there is also a genetic inheritance of potential. In the same way that fast horses are bred with fast horses in the hope that they will breed faster horses. The Itsunagi clan has a similar breeding program for their fighters. So at the beginning they'd have no objection to Genma and hope that it would be a good match. Their hatred of Genma comes from his treatment of Nodaka and Ranma during the training trip. They also start digging for more information in that period and bring to light information on his master and training partners actions in the previous years.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:- Ranma and Co. are the sole property of Rumiko Takahashi and as such are used with out her express or implied permission. Any attempts to sue this poor personage for any percieved affront shall recieve no monetary gain, only the satisfaction of having my prehistoric pentium III and an incomplete set of Ranma 1/2.**

**Chapter 3-a**

**Kanakita! Can I, Can't I?**

**Ranma was feeling decidedly seasick, not that he called it that or even believed it for one second. Being a martial artist who felt at home in the air as much as on the ground, he knew seasickness couldn't affect him. The problem was the conflicting messages that his senses were telling his brain, for instance his feet were telling him that they were planted firmly on the ground, while his inner-ear was telling him he was 30 feet in the air, and there was quite an argument going on in his stomach as to which was right.**

**He'd been told in passing that watching the horizon could lessen the effects of the vertigo, the only problem with that was he couldn't see the horizon for more than a second at a time. In between those times all Ranma could see was gun metal grey walls of seawater. The wind whistling through the radio antenna tore the tops of the waves into a frothy mist that flew through the air. The deck hands had long since gotten used to the thought that the young man who had boarded the ship was now a young woman. One able seaman less quick on the uptake was feeling slightly less able after patting Ranma on the backside as he passed her on deck.**

**A day later the sea calmed again, not because the storm strength winds had abated but because they'd moved into the lee of an imposing Island. Looking out from the deck she could see cliffs, dark basalt cliffs that rose anywhere from thirty to seventy feet into the air.**

**"Bleak looking place ain't it? Sure you wanna go there?"**

**"Yeah, I suppose. It's where my mother comes from; she thought I might like to see where she grew up."**

**"Not sure I'd want to, but oh well, different strokes and all that."**

**"So what do you know about the island?"**

**"Me? Gotta admit 'bout the only thing I know about the island is that these here cliffs go all the way around. Damn islands near twelve miles long and seven wide and there's not one damn beach on it."**

**"Then how the hell do I get off this boat?"**

**"That's easy, they got this chopper comes down and hoists you to the top of the cliff."**

**"Really?" Ranmas eyes lit up, he always liked new experiences, it was how he could tell if he'd ever do them again. Like the Neko-ken, didn't like it, not gonna do it again.**

**"Um, do you know how to spell gullible?" The crew member had a sly look in his eyes, the one that should have told Ranma he'd been had.**

**"G..U..L...er why are you laughing?"**

**The crew man just waved a hand at the young woman in front of him before he fell over and laughed his head off while leaning back against the railing holding his sides.**

**As the captain walked over to talk to his young passenger he watched as his first mate fell over holding his stomach. Then watched the red-head reach down to pick him back up. By the time he realised what was happening he had already accelerated and was approaching at a fast trot.**

**"I'd really appreciate it miss if you wouldn't incapacitate my first mate, deckhands I can do with out but me first mates needed for third watch and the like." The bearded skipper of the fishing boat then looked askance at his crew member as he giggled from his prone position. Cocking his thumb at his first mate he asked, "What's up with him? From the way he was down and rolling like that I thought you'd had to teach him a lesson, now I'm inclined to think he's been drinking."**

**"Nah, didn't touch him. I'm still waiting to find out what set him off myself."**

**"Well, you gonna tell us, or are ya gonna continue with the hyena impression?"**

**"Chopper..." he made a vague circling motion with his forefinger. "Cliff top..." again he made vague motions of picking something up and placing it atop another object. "Gullible..." at this point he just broke down and rolled around laughing.**

**The skipper just raised his eyebrows and sighed. "One of these days, married to my sister or not, I'm going to make you walk the plank for your twisted sense of humour."**

**"You mind if I sober him up?"**

**"How are you going to do that?"**

**"Don't worry, just pick him up and point him over toward the railing." Ranma was frowning by this point she just realized she'd been had, and let's face it, nobody likes to be laughed at.**

**Puzzled but complying any way, the captain of the large fishing boat picked his brother-in-law up by his armpits and dragged him towards the railing. "I was only joking about making him walk the plank you know."**

**"Yeah, yeah, I know. This doesn't require anybody to get wet."**

**"Okay I've got him here, now what?"**

**"Now he just gets to watch." Raising her delicate hand palm upwards she began to frown in concentration. This was harder than a Mouko Takabisha, as it didn't have any emotion to drive the charge, she was trying to form a pure chi ball. Faltering at first a tiny pinpoint of light began to form above the palm of her hand, as her confidence grew so too did the amount of energy(A/N), and the ball grew rapidly. When the ball reached 1 foot across she tossed the ball away to land a couple of hundred meters from the ship. The ball sank into the waves and did nothing for a couple of seconds. Then the water began to swell up in a distinct dome which expanded until it was nearly 50 meters across and then it exploded skywards. At this point everything on the ship stopped except for the engines, which continued to push the boat through the now choppy water and falling sea-spray. Then in accordance with the laws of gravity all the water that went up came back down, and with a water based curse and the luck to go with it the water was likely to end up in only one place.**

**"Hmm, I think that'll do it lass!" For indeed the first mate wasn't the only one with bug-eyes. They also had the bad fortune to be standing near Ranma Saotome when the water struck and now looked like drowned bug-eyed rats.**

**The copper headed martial artist seemed as surprised as anybody else, she hadn't actually put as much power into it as a Mouko Takabisha required. In fact she'd only put in 1/10 the power she'd used in her weakest Mouko Takabisha, she began to wonder about pure chi. Surprisingly the mood changed on the boat for the rest of the trip, the crew remained silent and withdrawn, and they were definitely giving the strange young woman a wide berth. **

**Ranma-chan was grateful when the 70 foot fishing boat hove into the safe harbour of Kanakita Island. (Don't bother looking for this island it doesn't exist). Sliding into a berth near to several other fishing boats and a small freighter.**

**The jetty was maybe 300 feet long and almost as wide, the grey granite used in its construction was barely even touched by the passage of time. Towards the rear of the dock a sheer cliff rose 60 feet into the air, its face smoothed to accommodate the several modern cargo cranes. The frenetic scene of ships being unloaded by people in forklifts and small cranes attested to just how busy the small port actually was. At the far end of the dock Ranma could see the beginnings of a road that passed under a gigantic stone gate. Approaching closer along the dock she began to realize that each pillar was as wide as the Tendo compound and rose nearly two thirds the height of the cliffs. Carved on the right hand pillar from top to bottom read ' Itsunagi' and on the left was carved ' Academy'. Feeling like she'd stepped into the twilight zone she began walking up the paved incline. Nodoka had explained that her family was wealthy, but hadn't gone into any real detail. Now she knew that wealthy didn't even begin to cover Itsunagi clans' financial status. A large sign behind the stone pillar stated that she was now entering private property, and that the importation of any illegal substance or alcohol on to the island was prohibited. It also stated that local law applied, though it didn't explain what that meant. At the top of the incline she found the small customs office she'd been told about on the ship. Pushing open the door she entered the small air-conditioned office. Standing behind the counter she saw a young man wearing a dark green uniform.**

**"Good afternoon miss, how can I help you?" He failed to notice the young girl wince at the use of the title 'miss'.**

**"Hi, my name's Ranma Saotome, my mother told me I needed to see a Nosaku Itsunagi-sama."**

**"Your mother's name please?"**

**"Nodoka Saotome."**

**"If you'd like to take a seat I'll just contact the main house." The young officer gestured to a chair across the room.**

**Ranma put her pack down and ambled over to the seat where she began to idly flick through several old magazines. Quickly getting bored with that she began to watch the phone conversation across the room. It took a few seconds for her to realize that she wasn't reading his lips.**

**"I'm sorry to disturb you, there's a young lady named Ranma Saotome here to see Itsunagi-dono. Yes I'll hold... Good afternoon Sir, yes that's correct she's right in front of me. 5'4", red hair and blue eyes. Ah, red Chinese silk shirt and black pants. Yes Sir, no sir. I'll just complete the formalities and I'll send her up to the house then. Yes Sir, thank you Sir." After replacing the receiver he looked up to find Ranma already walking towards him.**

**"So what formalities do we need to complete now?"**

**The young man became flustered, 'There's no way she heard me all the way across the room, is there?'**

**"Um, er," visibly gathering his wits he decided to try again. "Are you in possession of, or importing to this island any proscribed substances or magical items?"**

**"Huh?"**

**"You know, drugs, alcohol or magical items such as jewellery or weapons?"**

**"No I have nothing of the sort." Ranma was perplexed, frowning at the thought of magical items.**

**"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to search your pack, as my monitor is telling me that there's something with a strong magical charge in this room."**

**"Sure, but I'm telling you I don't have any magical items."**

**After searching the pack and laying out their contents on the countertop the customs officer scratched his head in confusion and then gave the strange crystal on his desk a bang for good measure. "It's never been wrong before, so what is it picking up?"**

**"If it helps I have a water-based curse that's magical."**

**"That's a relief, I thought the equipment was on the fritz. What kind of curse do you have?"**

**"As I said I have a water-based curse that turns me into a girl."**

**"Oh, I think you might have a problem then, you see this island is warded against magic. Upon entering the island anything related to magic is locked until said object leaves the island."**

**"Damn, you mean I'm stuck like this?"**

**"Yes, I'm sorry to say that the effect can last up to six months after you leave the island."**

**"Oh crud! Why didn't my mother warn me?"**

**"She might not have known, it's such common knowledge amongst the adults that we rarely talk about it."**

**"Oh that's just typical, why can't I catch a break? Is that all, or do you have more bad news for me?"**

**"Um no, I think I've covered everything. If you'd like to wait I'll just send for a car." the young customs officer looked nervously at the large new crack in his countertop where the young lady had convulsively moved her hands apart. Unfortunately she'd been gripping the edge of his countertop and had ripped it like paper.**

**"Why how far is it?" Ranma spoke precisely, she was having a great deal of trouble trying to control her emotions.**

**"Oh it's only a couple of miles inland. But you don't want to walk do you? I mean it's been raining on and off for the last 48 hours."**

**"Yeah, I think I need the time to think, plus it's not like I'm going to change with the bad weather." She stated bitterly. She began to cram her belongings back into her pack in preparation for the short walk to her final destination.**

**"Please, ah, sir we don't mean to inconvenience you it's just that the wards have been in place for centuries, from times when magical attacks were more common. The last man who tried to remove one of the wards was struck by lightning 26 times, once they buried the corpse they swore that they would never try to remove them again."**

**Ranma waved his explanation away, "Yeah yeah, I know. It's just this stuff always happens to me, and I really hate it." Pushing open the door she left the customs office and began walking down the only road on the island.**

**Ranma-chan stomped down the paved country road in her own personal storm cloud, if anybody had been listening to her muttered conversation they would have heard many superfluous punctuation marks. She was in no mood to enjoy the beautiful day around her. The open fields to her left seemed to glow as the sun reflected through the rain drops that had collected on the emerald green leaves. The warm sunlight left her feeling cold. To her right an old forest grew, undisturbed by man, no path through the undergrowth could be seen. The trees were huge and gnarled, the leaf canopy above caught the light and filtered it out except for a few beams of golden light that filtered through. The rain that had fallen a short time ago released a musty smell from the soil. It was a pleasant smell when combined with the ionized salt tang of the ocean just a few miles away. She'd travelled for nearly a week now, and she'd really wanted to meet the Itsunagi clan in her male form if only for the first time, damn the curse and damn these magical wards.**

**The road led off into the distance where she could see a huge roof, its black tiles glistened in the renewed sunlight. At each corner a stone lion glared down on all below, protecting those within the four walls. At each end of the roof's crest a huge dragon curled over the side of the buildings roof, looking like the legendary beasts were basking in the afternoon sun. Their tails met in the centre of the roof and intertwined as if it was the only reason they did not slide off, except for the fact their rear claws dug into the tiles in a reversed hold providing even more anchorage. Ranma couldn't see any of the rest of the building from here as the forest curved in front of her obscuring the building, the road ahead cut through the forest where he could see a red tori (see AN) gate. If she didn't know better she'd have thought that the building was an ancient temple, but this was the place all the locals had directed her too, so this must be it. As she got closer she began to realize just how huge the building actually was, standing at least four stories tall and built all in stone the Itsunagi clan home was truly impressive. As she approached the trees began to obscure the massive building.**

**Passing under the bright red gates she passed into a twilight world, the sounds of the world just seemed to fade away, the only sound now was a tiny chiming of wind chimes. The asphalt road she'd been walking on changed to stone cobbles. The undergrowth had been cleared from under the trees and to either side were arrayed hundreds of small stone statues. Just ahead another tori gate came into view and then another just before the trees opened out into a massive flag-stone covered courtyard. Here were the first people she'd seen in half an hour, two groups of young people occupied the far end of the courtyard facing the huge building that she now realized was the Academy. The larger group seemed to consist of nearly 200 young boys while a smaller group consisted of some 75 girls all of a similar age. From what she could tell at this distance they were doing endurance kata, short punching and kicking sequences repeated again and again until the student was ready to fall down. By the looks of it they'd been going for a while as a small group of boys had dropped down at the back of the formation and were chatting quietly to each other.**

"Hey Ichida, would you look at that!" the youth in the centre pointed his thumb at Ranma-chan.

"Oh yeah would I ever, look at the bod on her! Makes you wonder what a fine piece of ass like that did to get put in here."

"Must have been something naughty as opposed to nasty cause she's got no escort."

"I like the way you think my man. Hey Fumishi what do ya say we catch up with her later and give her a real 'warm' Kanakita welcome?" the youth in the centre gave an evil smirk.

"Uh Koji I don't think she likes that idea!" said the suddenly sweating youth on the right.

"What are you talking about, there's no way she heard that." looking up he gulped as he caught sight of an irate redhead with her arms crossed over her chest, she was nodding grimly at him from 40 m away to let him know that she'd heard every word. "Oh kuso!" then he heard a loud cracking sound that drew everyone's attention causing them to turn and stare. Of course some did it with more flair and grace than others, they were the ones that remained on their feet after the loud pistol-cracking sound.

" Excuse me miss, can I help you at all?" one of the instructors moved quickly to confront the diminutive redhead who was disturbing his class.

Ranma watched the thick bodied instructor approach then turned her gimlet stare back on the three unfortunate youths who'd been talking about her. 'I may have to be female for the moment but I don't have to take that kind of talk from anybody. Watch closely guys, this is why you don't talk about people you don't know'

" Excuse me sensei my name is Saotome Ranma, sorry about that."

" Oh yes, we were told to be expecting you by the main house, if you'd like to follow that path around the far corner of the Academy building you'll be able to see the gate to the main house."

" Thank you very much. If it wouldn't be too much of an imposition would I be able to run a few kata before I head up to the main house? You see I've been stuck on a boat for three days and I'm feeling a little bit, tired."

" Sure, knock yourself out." he gestured to the wide open space behind his class.

Ranma bowed formally to the instructor. Taking a basic stance Ranma began the same endurance routine she'd seen the others doing, but that's where the similarities ended. She started out at three times the speed they'd been running the exercise and then with each repetition she became faster until the point where she was leaving a slight after image, each punch and kick was punctuated with a loud cracking sound as her shirt sleeves and pants leg whip-cracked with each moves termination. She held the routine at that speed for fifteen minutes until she brought it to a sudden jarring halt.

" Well that's enough to warm up," she tapped her chin as if thinking about what to do next when her face lit up. What followed was an intricate foot work routine against an imaginary foe, appearing to be a desperate defence be-lied only by the graceful almost dance like smoothness of her bodies movements. Her hands flashed out in blocking moves, with her feet following in leg sweeps then into blocking kicks with her knees and shins, feinting into steps forward with elbow strikes and then back again. Her body swayed side to side as she dodged imaginary strikes all the while executing darting strikes of her own. Ducking under a round-house kick she executed a leg sweep and then back flipped to give herself more fighting room. Those watching could almost see her invisible opponent as she led him in a circle. When she'd made her way around half of the circle she accelerated as she added another imaginary enemy. Then her audience gasped as she flipped forwards over an invisible kick, impossibly she seemed to grasp her attackers foot and hang there as she executed a split kick at both her attackers simultaneously while in an upside down position. Then using her massive upper body and leg strength she seemed to spin on her axis and land almost in the same place she'd taken off from. Two minutes and some 335 moves later she came to a graceful halt standing in the exact same place from which she'd started. She made eye contact with the same three youths to check the effect it had had on them, after all what's the use of a demonstration if nobody learns anything. Seeing their pale wide eyed faces she knew the lesson had been received. 'Not bad for a straight martial arts kata.' she thought as she again sought the eyes of the classes sensei.

Bowing to the stationary instructor, " Thank you, I really needed that." So saying she headed for the path she'd been direct to earlier, only to look up at a slightly different Academy building. Where before the windows of the four-story stone edifice had been empty and silent they were now crowded with noisy students who'd wanted to see her display of martial arts. 'Damn that's making me seven kinds of uncomfortable.' as she walked past the now silent people, as they avidly watched her every move.

-Earlier-

Itsunagi Nosaku sat contemplating the fine bone china cup his tea had been served in this morning. The white porcelain so fine that it was translucent was both beautiful and fragile. A little like his days now, at nearly 100 years of age, he found that he had to enjoy the beauty of each day simply because of its fragility. The sun had yet to rise and already he had accomplished so much, turning back to his computer terminal he logged out of the clan's accounts but left the computer on so he'd know when people needed to talk to him. Levering himself out of the office chair he began the short walk to the Clan hall where he'd spend most of his day contemplating past glories and his hopes for the future. Of course for the last forty years he'd had hopes for the future, and still he had not found the one that he would train to become Clan Chief when he decided to pass the mantle. With each new generation his hope diminished, some had the talent but not the drive to achieve, others had drive but not the patience, many had some of the virtues that he needed but none had enough of them to make it worthwhile him training them. His sons believed that he was being too picky that he should pick the best of them and that the clan would have to make do. But Nosaku hoped for so much more for his clan, after sixty years of his careful administration they were fools if they thought he'd hand it over to someone unsuitable. He'd seen all of the children of this generation and found them all lacking in some respect or another, there was only one child he had yet to see and that child should have been here a couple of days ago. Saotome Ranma was his last and best hope for the future, of course now that he was late Nosaku wasn't even sure that the young boy would make his way to Kanakita Island.

As the sun passed zenith and began the long slow slide into night fall Itsunagi Nosaku moved back to his private office, with petitions and audience over for the day it was time for lunch and to make sure that's nothing had fallen apart in his absence.

Of course nothing had, with the same meticulous planning for which he'd been known for most of his life nothing was left to chance. Checking his messages he blinked and had to read the third one again, 'That can't be right fishing boats shouldn't be equipped with depth charges, I'll have to make sure he hasn't been drinking again.' the seventh note turned out to be notification from his customs office that that self same fishing boat was preparing to dock. Checking the time on that note he figured nearly 20 minutes had passed, when his phone rang.

"Moshi-moshi. Ah, she is? Could you please describe her to me? Thank you, that's definitely her. She arrived on that fishing boat, yes? Ah so... (People think that the term 'ah so' is a derogatory term and in many cases it is used to make fun of the Japanese. But its true use within the Japanese language is equivalent to saying 'oh really'). Did anyone else arrive with her? Please send her up to the house as soon as possible... If she's amenable please have her driven here in my car. Please, do nothing to aggravate her, I wish for her to enjoy her stay here. Ah, I suppose you'd better get on then. When you finish for the day please come up to the main house."

Itsunagi Nosaku replaced the receiver and then spent a few moments contemplating his steepled fingers before he allowed himself a small smile. ' Yes he did come! Though I wonder why he came by boat when the instructions he was given was to make his way to the Itsunagi terminal at Naha Airport where he could catch a plane directly to the island.' Slamming both hands down on his desk he decided that that was not an important question anymore, now he needed to plan and find a way to make the young Saotome wish to become Itsunagi Ranma. He'd been thinking and planning for nearly 5 minutes when his phone rang again.

"Moshi-moshi."

" I'm sorry to disturb you again Itsunagi-dono but the young lady has just left my office and is making her way to the main house on foot."

"Why is she on foot? Didn't you offer the use of my car?"

"Yes Itsunagi-dono I did, but she said something about needing time to calm down."

"Why what did you say to her?"

"Nothing, honestly, it's just when I asked if she had any magical items, I then had to explain about the islands magical wards and how they locked magic while it was on the island."

"And that made her angry?"

"Yes sir, I think she's a little bit miffed that her curse has been locked." The young officer idly stroked the crack in his counter.

" I see, thank you for the warning. Please do not blame yourself as the damage had already been done before she even met you. And again you're invited to the main house for dinner tonight."

'What were you thinking Nodoka, you knew about the magical wards, why didn't you warn your son? It seems I'll have to give my great-granddaughter a call later to find out why.' Nosaku spent the next few minutes making sure the staffs of the Academy were expecting the young redheaded martial artist then began to make amendments to his earlier planning taking into account the newly locked curse.

The elder Itsunagi pushed a tiny red button on his desk which opened the screen covering the compounds security monitors and began to watch the beginners' level classes, which contained only the very young or the very new to the Academy, except for a small group who proved either inept or unwilling to learn the martial arts. Unfortunately his great-grandson Koji fell into that group along with a number of his friends, even as he watched they bowed out of the endurance exercise the class was currently running so that they could talk.

'Oh Koji, Koji, Koji, why does your father persist in forcing you to take the martial arts courses? Anyone can see you're not suited to, or willing to learn so why will he not allow you to find your own strengths?' The clan chief shook his head as he thought of his grandsons' hubris in forcing his only son to follow in his footsteps and become the clan's premier martial artist. Oh yes the potential was certainly there, but Koji didn't have the desire or the internal fire to excel.

Nosaku continued to lose himself in thoughts of the various members of his immediate family and how they fit together in the great mosaic that was Itsunagi clan. Coming to no new insights where they were concerned he turned his eyes back to the monitor just in time to see Koji point his thumb at the approaching redhead. He didn't even need to know what they were saying he could see it all in the expressions on their faces, 'That may prove to be unwise child.'

Then he watched as the whole class disintegrated into mayhem as the tiny redhead drew attention to herself, 'I'll have to ask how she did that when I meet her.' From there he became spellbound as he was treated to one of the most incredible martial arts displays he'd ever seen, and in his nearly 100 years of life that was saying a great deal as he'd seen some of the greatest martial artists of his generation. When she brought her kata to a blazing halt in the same place from which she'd started he managed to straighten up and tried to regain his normal calm breathing. He watched as young Ranma flicked her pigtail back over her shoulder after picking up her backpack and began walking towards the main house. Pressing his little red button again the monitors turned off and their cover slid back into place. Then gathering his kimono in as regal a manner as he could while trying to trot from the room so that he would be in place for Ranmas arrival.

Present

Ranma was amazed as he approached the large building that was Itsunagi's clan home. It wasn't the sheer size, it was more to do with the fact that something of that size could seem so homey and lived in, he'd seen mansions before and they tended to be sterile and cold, take for example the Kuno mansion, he'd never seen such a dark foreboding place it was no wonder most of its residents were insane. Walking through an amazing formal garden he paused here and there to enjoy a particular statue or arrangement of plants, while the garden was beautiful it also had the feeling that it was designed not to awe but to be enjoyed by the inhabitants of Kanakita Island. The house itself was old, far older than the Academy building. It showed its age in the choices of material that it had been built in, and the style in which it had been constructed. The lower story was built in stone but had long since been plastered to hide the coarse masonry underneath, while the upper stories were built in timber with beautiful carved trellises over the windows the roof was what a typical Westerner would consider to be rendered in an Oriental style and adorned with the usual lions, which were there to protect the inhabitants from ill fortune and evil spirits.

Ranma stepped up onto the porch that surrounded the lower floor and headed for the front doors, where she removed her shoes in preparation of entering. She placed her shoes in an empty shoe rack and turned in preparation to knock on the doors. She was about to raise her hand when both halves of the shoji screens slid back smoothly to show her Itsunagi's clan hall. Over all in comparison to the size of the rest of the house the hall was not particularly large, measuring 6 m wide by 10 m long. A 3 m wide aisle cut between two raised platforms that rose a foot above the floor, the aisle ended at a dais that was raised even further. The room was almost empty except for the two ladies who had opened the shoji screens there was only one other person in the room. He occupied the dais at the far end of the room, as her eyes adjusted to the slightly lesser light in the room she noticed the elderly gentleman gesture for her to enter and to approach him.

For his part Itsunagi Nosaku watched the redhead closely, now that she was in the same room he could use his aura sight on her. What he saw nearly caused him to fall off of his thin cushion (his sole concession to his advancing age), he'd seen many auras in his time but he'd never seen one like this. For a start it was the largest he'd ever seen extending well away from her body, but it didn't end there, her aura extended tentacle like tendrils of Chi that reached out and brushed the walls, floors and ceiling as if they were searching for danger. She stepped forward with a fluid grace, the kind of grace that if he had never learned about her before would have told him that she was an extremely accomplished martial artist, she was half way across the floor before he realized that she had not made a sound as she walked across the nightingale floor (called a nightingale floor because it was designed to squeak and to sing out when someone tried to walk across it, an early version of a burglar alarm.) Even after living here all his life he still squeaked like a rusty gate when he walked across that floor.

When Ranma-chan stopped in front of him he merely gazed at her, waiting for her to make the opening move. As he well knew when meeting a powerful person for the first time it was often the one who rushed in who made mistakes. Plus this was his place and his rules applied.

Ranma watched the old man before her, deciding that he wouldn't make a move until she did. She knelt gracefully in a position that mirrored his own, then bowed with only slightly more deference than he'd give to an equal. Mentally, Nosaku applauded her opening gambit, it let him know that she didn't come as supplicant but as a near equal who had decided to visit. When she straightened back up she merely gazed back at him placing the ball firmly back in his court.

" Good day to you young Saotome Ranma. To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?"

Authors note:-

I've decided to terminate this chapter at this point even though it's not complete. This chapter will continue in part 3-B.

Authors Notes:-

This story may often seem to be gender confused in the way its addresses people's observations on Ranma. I.e. some people know the curse and will switch between he and she, others will only see if she as they don't know about the curse. Ranma will always consider himself as a he or an I while thinking about himself, at least he does at this point time, I'll let you find out if that changes in later chapters.

For those of you wondering, even though the Chi ball grows when she gains confidence it's not the confidence that drives the Chi ball. She only has confidence in the fact that she's found the right technique.

Tori gates are usually found in temple grounds, in fact anybody who has seen ' Memoirs of a geisha' where the little girl runs under all those red pillars on her way to the temple has seen Tori gates.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer:- It is not my intention at any point in time to lay claim to the rights or privileges of the owners of Ranma-chan, or his cohorts in crime. I am but a lowly fan fiction writer. Any attempt to sue me will be found to be futile, as I am very poor. If you would like to change that fact at any point in time, please, please, please, sell me rights to Ranma half for one cent US. Okay, back to reality, I suppose it's back to the mines for me.

As the story isn't coming together the way I'd like I'll release what I had prepared before my annual three catastrophes hit. If you want to know what I'm talking about check my profile page. As such this section doesn't really get very far but there's still some good stuff in here.

Phoenix Ascension

Chapter 3B

Nosaku watched the young girl before him, deciding that he wouldn't make a move until she did. She knelt gracefully in a position that mirrored his own, then bowed with only slightly more deference than he'd give to an equal. Mentally, Nosaku applauded her opening gambit, it let him know that she didn't come as supplicant but as a near equal who had decided to visit. When she straightened back up she merely gazed back at him placing the ball firmly back in his court.

"Good day to you young Saotome Ranma. To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?" Nosaku regarded the young man turned woman, watching her struggle to find the words she needed.

"Sir as of four days ago my name became just Ranma. As you probably know my life has been really weird since I got this curse," Ranma gestured to her currently female body, "but every time I tried to figure something out someone, or something would happen to distract me. What I need more than anything else is peace and quiet so I can figure out how to get some kind of control over my life."

"Well, young lady..." Nosaku watched the young girl flinch at the female term, 'At the least he's stopped screaming he's a man, but I think I understand now what Nodoka was thinking when she failed to warn him of the wards', "I don't think there'll be any problem with finding you some peace and quiet. As you know control is a fine thing to have, but I think it may be more important for you to understand the whys and wherefores. To have control, first you must have information. Some people know what has happened, they are usually the victims. Others through diligence and hard work know what is happening, while a very few have control and know what will happen or control what happens before it happens. This is the state which you aspire to? Let me tell you something, I have been clan leader for 60 years and in all of that time I have maintained true control for maybe 5 of that time. The rest of that time I have struggled to maintain knowledge of what is happening, and I am acknowledged as one of the the better leaders the clan has produced. In my life I have found that there's only one thing that I could truly control and that has been myself. To do this I had to embrace all three aspects of control, knowing what has happened, knowing what is happening and being fully aware of what is around me so that I know what will happen. My next question for you is this, how much of your childhood do you remember?"

"Hey what's that got to do with any thing?" Ranma stopped at Nosakus raised eyebrow, she blushed in embarrassment at her outburst. "I suppose I'm like a lot of people most of my really early years are a blur." Ranma shuddered as she contemplated certain aspects of her youth 'Thank the Kami that I can't remember the Neko-ken clearly.'

"Remember step 1, without that knowledge that would make you the victim of your childhood. I believe that to be a great shame. That means that most of the life lessons that shaped the young person before me are lost to you, and as such you cannot fulfill your true potential."

Ranma looked down at her knees and then back to the old mans sharp eyes. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not saying you're not a fine martial artist, nor am I saying that you're weak. My point is that in all your troubles you tend to be the one who reacts, you're very rarely the one who acts first." Nosaku shifted slightly to relieve the pressure on his knees, "And that is why I believe at this point in time you are a victim. Your ignorance of your past and the world in general is what makes it so. As I understand it in the past year you have finally begun to take your studies seriously. That is a worthwhile endeavor and I hope you continue to do so, but I believe it is as important that you meditate on your life and gain as much insight into your early years as you can. Now I assume as your father meant to keep you ignorant he never taught you to meditate, if that is the case I shall make sure that somebody instructs you as soon as possible."

"Damn that panda!" Nosaku watched as the young womans aura came into the visible spectrum. 'I think it might be time to change the subject before she incinerates the room or decides to hunt a certain panda into extinction.'

"You're young Ranma, which is why you tend to think that the world is a random place. For the most part you'd be correct, but in certain instances karma takes a hand to redress certain imbalances." Nosaku sighed at Ranmas blank look. "Okay something else for you to contemplate, why the 'Spring of drowned girl'? Why not something totally different, hmmm?"

"So what you're saying is that my life is out of whack and I was given the curse because of it? Man I'd hate to think what Pantyhose Taro did to deserve his curse." She chuckled under her breath.

"And sometimes the world is a random place, your job is to figure out which it is in your case. Another thing to consider is that the female gender tends to communicate better both verbally and emotionally. Once you begin to meditate I suggest you also contemplate why that may be important for you personally." The elderly man chuckled at the perplexed expression on Ranmas face.

"Kuso, I'm trying to find answers to my life here, I don't need any more questions." She whispered that last part almost too quietly for Nosaku to hear.

"Listen to me young lady, sometimes it's better to take a little longer to find all the answers you truly need than only the ones you think you need. The problem is that in this case you're too close to the problem and as such you don't necessarily know which questions need to be answered, not that I'm saying I was any better at your age, but time does tend to give a certain amount of perspective. That is where I hope I am able to help you. Anyway I think we're getting away from the point here, first things first, you've come a long way in a short time and we should get you settled before we do anything else. Unfortunately I have some clan business I must attend to, if you don't mind I'll just arrange for someone to give you a guided tour of the Academy."

"No I don't mind at all." Trying not to sound too relieved that the old man would finally stop asking questions

"Good." Nosaku reached down and rang a small bell and waited until a middle-aged lady with iron gray hair slid the shoji screen aside, "Excuse me Saiyo-chan could you get Koji-kun for me, I need him to escort young Ranma here on a tour of the Academy and such while I conduct clan business, and while you're about it could you rustle up some tea for us? I'll take mine in my study."

"Certainly Itsunagi-sama, the tea will take but a moment." The screen slid closed.

"I'll just stay long enough to introduce you to my grandson and then I must make those phone calls I mentioned earlier."

"So what's this Koji like? Is he a good martial artist?"

"Lets see, the best way to describe Koji is to say that he has untapped potential. My son, Koji's father married late in life, even then it was not as you would say a love match, it was more a matter of convenience. When Koji was a year old his mother abandoned him and returned to her own family. Makodai my son felt the need to compensate for the loss and proceeded to spoil him. When he became a teen his father began to push him into following in his footsteps to become the clan's premier martial artist. Needless to say Koji had become head strong and rebelled. He'd much rather become a musician, but my son continues to push him into martial arts sigh even against my advice. As I said he has the potential to be truly great in the Art or in music, and if he would apply himself I'm pretty sure he could manage both. But his father believes it would be a waste of time and will not make a concession to the young boys personal interests."

"This Makodai fella sounds a lot like my pops."

"Please don't make that assertion anywhere near Makodai, he truly hates your father for the things he's done and would not forgive any comparison you made. Though I must admit there's a certain irony in your statement." The old man smiled as he thought about his sons reaction if he became aware of this particular conversatiion. "Oh one other thing before Koji arrives, not many people on the island have ever heard of Jhusenkyo and of those who have even fewer believe in the cursed springs, and as you're stuck as a girl there is no way to prove that they do exist. It will probably be best if you didn't go around asserting that you're male."

Ranma looked up startled at the sudden turn of conversation, "Huh! You're kidding, there ain't no way I'm acting like a girl!" Ranma scrunched her snub nose as she glared at the placid clan Elder not realizing how cute most of the male population would have found her.

"I'm not asking you to, in fact I'd prefer it if you didn't, I'm having enough trouble with the female population of the Academy as it is. Just try to act natural, you don't have to be girly or manly here. "

Ranma quickly went from being miffed to being puzzled he'd been told to behave in so many different ways by so many different people that he wasn't sure what normal was any more, that's if he'd ever really known in the first place. Ranma heard a faint chinking sound outside the shoji screen and turned her head in time to watch a large man slide the door open and enter with the tea tray.

"Ah Saiy... Jonathan, I see you've been roped into kitchen work again." Nosaku spoke to a westerner who at six and a half feet tall and nearly as wide was one of the biggest humans Ranma had ever seen, excepting the dojo destroyer - but then the jury was still out as to whether he was actually human.

"It's not so bad, I prefer it to gardening. At least I don't get glared at for trampling the flower beds with these great big feet of mine." Jonathan released a loud rumble that sounded for all the world like a diesel engine warming up, but Ranma quickly realized he was laughing.

"Yes I saw the head gardener last week looking through a hunting magazine for bear traps."

This time Jonathon roared with laughter the sound reverberating through the room to make it sound even louder. "Bwa-Ha-Ha. Oh, that's a good one old man!" The big man slowly wound down until he was breathing normally.

"Ah Jonathan I'd like you to meet Ranma." Nosaku gestured to the diminutive redhead across from him.

"So you're this Ranma I've been hearing all about this last couple of years? I hear you're a pretty good martial artist?"

"Oh I'm not too bad I suppose." Ranma said with unusual modesty.

"Now now, enough of that young one. Don't let the false and modesty fool you, I consider Ranma to be the best martial artist in Japan, and probably one of the best in the world."

"Well if you're here for little while I wouldn't mind sparring against you." He paused for a moment to look towards the doorway. "Um I think I'll go back to the kitchens now, I think Koji wants a word with you." Jonathan gestured to Koji who was hesitantly peering around the door frame.

"Ah good Koji is here, come in I'd like you to meet someone." Koji hesitantly stepped into the clans audience chamber and made his way over to his grandfather.

"Hi Gramps you wanted to see me?" He cast a nervous sideways glance at the tiny redhead as he came level with her.

"Jonathan if you could wait outside for me I'd like to have a quick chat with you before you go back to the kitchens."

"Sure Nosaku-sama." The big man's knees cracked as he stood up and made his way out of the room.

"Koji I'd like you to meet Ranma, Ranma this is my grandson Koji."

"Hi there!" Koji attempted to smile winningly as he reached his hand down to shake hers. He quickly changed his mind under the death glare he was receiving, his smile faltered as his hand moved behind his head to scratch nervously at his neck. "Eh-heh."

"I'd like you to give this young lady a quick tour of the Academy and its facilities. Once you've done that I'd like you to introduce Ranma to the dormitory manager."

"Certainly Sir." Koji nervously ran his finger around his collar at the thought of spending any more time with the hostile chick.

"Oh and Koji sometimes we do things that are not appreciated, it's usually best to fix those things before they fester." The clan elder got gracefully to his feet and made his way from the room.

Koji watched the shoji screen close then turned back to the only other occupant in the room. "Do you think he knows about us?"

"Let's get one thing straight, there ain't no us! And you don't owe me any apology."

"Um I was gonna..."

"What?" Ranma put her teacup down with a little more force than she expected and watched in dismay as the fine bone china disintegrated in her hand. 'Kuso not another one!'

"I just want to say I'm sorry."

"Okay apology accepted." Ranma said in a cold tone of voice.

"Er, could we start again? I said some things I really regret and if we could I'd like to put them behind us."

"Okay, I can do that. Just so you know though, if I hear you talk about me or anybody else like that again I'll pound you into the ground like a tent peg. And you can tell your friends I said that as well."

"Sure, I'll make sure they know. Hi I'm Koji, nice to meet you Ranma." He again reached his hand out but this time she met him half way and they shook hands tentatively. "Um, I only said those things because I find you..."

"Whoa Koji, I'd quit while you've still got a head. Besides aren't we supposed to be doing some kind of tour?"

"So do you want to check out the garden, or the Academy?" He smiled tentatively as he waited for her answer.

"I think I'd prefer to check out the Academy, I'd like to put my stuff somewhere and maybe grab some food." Ranma looked wistful as she mentioned food since she hadn't eaten in the last twenty-six hours due to something that was definitely not motion sickness.

"Yeah sure, just follow me. I'll give you a quick tour on the way to the dorm manager, then we'll fill in the gaps from there." Koji leant forward and placed his teacup back on the tray before gracefully rising to his feet.

Ranma quickly followed the young man to the door where she put on her outdoor slippers and donned her pack for the short walk back to the huge Academy building she'd passed on the way in. Once outside she noted the suns position as it hunkered towards the western horizon, guestimating that they had maybe three hours until night fall. Koji long-legged stride quickly covered the hundred meters from his clan home to the main doors leading into the Academy complex from this direction. He pushed open the double doors and led her into a well lit corridor some 80m in length and 5m wide.

"These stairs lead up to an observation deck two stories up and then into the Academy itself, there is a set just like it at every entrance. The main stairs are at the intersection just ahead of us."

"Observation deck?"

"Yep, I'll show you a map later to clear it up but basically there's a series of observation balconies that runs two stories above the training halls."

"Whoa this place really is a huge!" Her eyes widened as she looked down the intersecting corridor and then at the huge spiral staircase that led up to the ceiling three stories above.

"Yeah well it'll take a little getting used to but I'm sure you'll manage fine. Come on, follow me." Koji called over his shoulder as he trotted up the stairs. On the landing two stories up she made note of the layout of interconnected balconies and followed him further up to the next level. "This is the main foyer for the Academy, information desk to your right, library entrance directly through those doors and all classrooms and conference rooms are down these corridors to the left and right. Classes deal with children from age seven to the age of twenty-two, the classes are mixed male, female and age wise. So don't be too surprised if there a couple of young kids in your class." he smirked at the confused expression on Ranmas face.

"That's different to any school I've been in."

"Yeah well clan Itsunagi does things different. For one thing, preschool and primary school are combined, and they start much earlier as well. The academies courses range in complexity from high school level to university. Some students prove to excel in one area or another and so are promoted into a higher level of course work, instead of being made to slog through the boring stuff they already know."

"So what does that mean to someone just starting here, like me?"

"Well I'd say you'd be starting pretty high up in the physical education side of things, and in the academic, well that depends on what your past schoolwork was like, it can be a real challenge for people who have never studied hard before."

"Yeah I guess it would. I only just recently started to take that kind of thing seriously"

"So how's it going?"

"Not too bad, I went from getting mostly D's to getting B+'s and sometimes even A's. I plan to do even better once I start to fill in some of the holes in my education."

"Wow that's pretty cool. Why were you doing so bad?"

"Ah, that was my Pop's fault, he reckoned as I was a martial artist I really didn't need the education. I mean I was gonna teach the art and all that."

"Then what changed for you?"

"Well I started to notice that no matter how strong I got there were certain people who always beat me, trouble was they'd take advantage of my lack of education and there would go all my money. That got me thinking about the rest of my life. Let me tell you it didn't look good, even if I did really well as a teacher of the art those same people would still be taking all the reward for my hard work. Then I started to think on it like it was a battle, you know, figure out their strengths and weakness. I figured that their only true strength was that they had more knowledge than me, and knew how to use it to best advantage, and that proved to be my weakness. So I started to treat it like kata, I went looking for learning techniques and then started to work on narrowing the gap." Ranma cocked her head to the side as she caught the smell of some really good cooking. "Hey! Where's the food?" Her stomach rumbled ominously, sounding for all the world like a certain panda that shall remain anonymous.

Koji looked at her startled by the sounds coming from her midriff. "The cafeteria is on the next level up, you wanna grab a bite to eat?"

"Oh yeah, I thought you'd never ask! I've been hanging for something to eat since I got on the island." By this stage she was nearly drooling. This time Koji was the one having trouble keeping up as she became a blur heading up the stairs.

"Hold on Ranma, we have to make sure you're eligible for meals first."

"What are you talking about Koji?"

"All meals are paid out of tuition fees. If you aren't in the system they won't issue any meals until you are."

A fuming Ranma stomped back down the stairs picking up a startled Koji on the way. "So who do we got to speak to, and where are they?"

"Ah up the stairs and to the right!" His shirt had tightened to the point it was cutting off his circulation, so the words came out as more of a wheezing squeak than anything else.

"Well why the hell didn't you say so already?"

"Never gave me a chance." Ranma put him down as she noticed that his face was starting to turn an unhealthy shade of puce.

"Then you'd better lead the way." She gave him an impatient shove in the back that managed to propel him half way up the stairs again. Koji was thanking his lucky stars that they were on speaking terms after his slip earlier, because if she'd still been agravated with him he'd be running for his life after such a casual show of strength. She wasn't even straining as she moved his eighty kilo mass around.

He led the way to the dormitory managers office at a much quicker pace. He knocked on the door and pushed it open as soon as he heard the rooms occupant answer.

"Come in, the doors unlocked!"

"Hiya Ri-san how's it going?"

"I've asked you not to call me that Koji-kun." She looked over at her other visitor. "I don't recognise you, so you must be Ranma-kun."

Ranma beamed at the use of the male suffix to his name. "That's me." Koji looked puzzled for the very same reason and was about to ask if she wanted him to make an appointment with an optometrist for her when she spoke again.

"Thanks Koji I'll take it from here." She waved the protesting boy towards the door while making shooing motions with her hands.

"Aw come on Rio"

"He's a nice boy really. At least his hearts in the right place."

"I dunno, I could check for you." Koji who had paused outside the door to eavesdrop turned pale at the casual words not knowing that she had also gestured at the door and made a cupping gesture to her ear. Rio started to laugh.

"Oh my, you're going to fit right in here I can see that. How did you know he was still here?"

"I didn't hear him walking away."

"Huh? But..."

"Lets just say that I've got real sensitive hearing. It started the morning I left home and it doesn't seem to be going away." Sleep had been hard to come by for the last few days as every sound was amplified. While she'd been on the boat that brought her here it had felt like she was trying to sleep in a water tank with someone beating on the side of it with a big stick.

"So how sensitive are we talking here?"

"I could tell you your pulse if you like."

Rio looked startled again, this was going to take some getting used to, she couldn't tell if the young woman in front of her was joking or not.

"Hmm maybe later. Now what can I do to help you today."

"Um Koji-san was telling me something about tuition and how things work here. I didn't know anything about it so where do I fit in?"

"Didn't your mother tell you, you've had a full scholarship here for the past five years?"

"Nah, she didn't tell me that, I suppose I better add it to the growing list of things I haven't been told." Ranma tried and failed miserably to sound unaffected by the news.

"Oh dear. Well you know about it now don't you Ranma-kun?"

"Yeah I suppose. So does that mean I can eat here?"

"Of course, hold on a second while I issue you with a swipe card." She moved over to a safe and withdrew a small plastic card, she moved over to her computer and pulled up Ranmas file then swiped the card through a card reader. "There, this card allows you unrestricted access to all areas of the Academy, it also lets you use the families library over in the main house."

"Why would I wanna do that?"

"Well it's mainly used to store martial arts scrolls. A lot of it's esoteric or in very ancient languages which makes them very hard to understand. I gave up trying to make anything useful out of them a long time ago..." She trailed off as she saw an unholy light enter Ranmas eyes. "Er, yes well I suppose you could go and check it out sometime. For the moment why don't I show you the dining hall. The food is better than most school cafeteria, as all of the workers are part of our Hospitality courses, they're mostly 3rd and 4th year apprentices."

Ranma looked at the Dorm manager strangely, sure she had kind of gotten used to Kasumis cooking, but she still remembered eating some pretty horrible things in the name of survival. Her stomach rumbled yet again to remind her that she still had to feed it.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer:- It is not my intention at any point in time to lay claim to the rights or privileges of the owners of Ranma-chan, or his cohorts in crime. I am but a lowly fan fiction writer. Any attempt to sue me will be found to be futile, as I am very poor. If you would like to change that fact at any point in time, please, please, please, sell me rights to Ranma half for one cent US. Okay, back to reality, I suppose it's back to the mines for me.

Don't forget all reviews are greatly appreciated as they help me to shape the story.

-In Nosakus study-

"Moshi, moshi." The distinctly female voice could be heard throughout the room as Nosaku had placed it on speaker phone.

"Ah, good-afternoon Nodoka-chan, just the person I needed to speak to."

"Please, tell me he's there." Nosaku could almost hear the receiver on the other end creak at the stress his grand-daughter had just put it under.

"Yes he arrived earlier this afternoon" He heard the distraught mother on the end of the line breath a deep sigh of relief.

"I thought he'd done what his father would do in this situation."

"Oh?"

"That's to tell everyone he's going one place and then go elsewhere. I should have known better, it's just one more example of how different they truly are." Now she was smiling and the strain was gone from her voice. Nosaku smiled as well, until he remembered the reason for his call.

"Yes well, since he arrived there have been a few problems here. How is he likely to take being locked in his cursed form?"

"WHAT! Locked? HOW?"

"Um, Grand-daughter, it seems he didn't know about the magic wards placed upon the island." He was hesitant to sound condemning especially as she sounded so shocked by the fact he'd been locked. The response had sounded too genuine, he'd had seventy years of political intrigue to hone his senses of honesty and could usually tell to exactly what degree someone was bending the truth.

"Magic wards...?" She trailed off in thought. "Oh chikuso, how could I forget that? He's not going to take too kindly to that, the last time it happened was during the Prince Herb incident."

"Who? Not the Chinese Warlord?" He frowned as he thought about the implications of Ranma knowing Prince Herb of the Musk.

"That's him, I don't know how but he somehow managed to gain a Jhusenkyo curse, and then had the misfortune to be locked in a freak accident. When she came through Nerima to ask for Elder Colognes assistance in the acquiring of an artifact that would unlock the curse Akane Tendo managed to annoy the Dragon Prince and was struck."

"Hold on a second you said 'when she came through Nerima'?" The clan elder had a fair idea where this was going but wanted to make sure.

"Yes that's right, he gained the same curse as Ranma. So anyway, when Ranma moved to attack the Dragon Prince he received a severe beating even though he gave nearly as good as he got. In an act of spite Prince Herb used the artifact that had locked him to lock my son in his cursed form. Then there was a race to see who could find the other artifact first, Ranma and some of his 'friends' made good time following the Prince. The battle that followed made the evening news for its sheer ferocity and all of the damage done to treasure mountain."

The old man frowned in thought as he processed all the information he'd just been given. "I think I remember seeing something about that. So that was Ranma? While the article didn't make local broadcast it was brought to my attention by our news service."

"I thought you had agents following my son?"

"We did," He sighed again, "We discovered that he had been there for months before we found him, the agents that we sent to watch him had great success, at least until they were taken out by a series of freak accidents." Nosaku sounded trulyfrustrated. "For the first time we were able to find him and weren't able to do anything about it!"

"Ah, freak accidents?" Knowing what was coming she tried to sound like she didn't know what he meant.

"Oh the standard for Nerima I'm sure. But exploding walls, randomly falling martial artists, twenty foot tall winged minotaurs. In the first fortnight that we were watching him we lost seven of nine agents to the local hospital. Six of those were family members. We were not sure if the one stepped on by the minotaur would walk again. I chose to pull the agents out at that stage and advise you of the situation."

"Yes well I know how it went from there. Genma the coward hid himself and my son in their cursed form, nearly six months wasted, where I could have been with my son instead of Ranko Tendo."

"But No-chan that was your son."

"Yes I know that now, but then it was heart breaking for me. Every second I spent with that special young woman, I wished it were my son. If she had of been Ranko Tendo for real and not my cursed son I would have been doing her a disservice that she didn't deserve."

"Hmm true, but how could you know? Our agents were watching for nearly two weeks, there were massive holes in the information they sent us. That we now know was caused by the curse. They were told to follow Ranma not some little red-head, named Ranko." Nosaku sighed in resignation at the mistakes he'd made at the time, of course he hadn't known that they were mistakes until later, not that it helped in anyway, shape or form.

"Don't take offense grand-daughter but I need to know. You didn't send him here without telling him about the wards for the reason to make him get accustomed to his girl side?"

"No I didn't! I would never do that, it would cause him too much pain. Though, from what I understand of the curse it wouldn't have mattered if he knew about the wards or not. The curse attracts water like a magnet does iron filings, and always at the worst possible times. The number of times my son tried to meet me only to turn into Ranko makes me believe that no matter what I told him he'd still be locked as a female on the island." She sighed yet again, 'Damn he'll be mad as a stirred hornets nest for a while.'

"Can you come to the island and give him a helping hand?" He tried to restrain the enthusiasm in his voice, she had been sorely missed for the twenty years she had been gone from the ancestral home.

"I'd love to, but if I leave now all the fiancées he has will follow me and he'll be in the same situation as he was in here. No, he's there to think about things and come to some conclusions of his own. Once he does that he'll act on his own behalf. Give it a few months and I'll more than likely be able to come and it won't affect him in any way. In the meantime please let him know I respect his right to the time he asked for, and I hope it does him the good he needs. Also if you could inform him of the scholarship he has he might avail himself of it."

"Well, I kind of already moved him over to the Academy."

"Why? He's there to think, not study."

"True, he could have stayed in the family home, would have loved to have him here, but it's only us old fogy's over here. I thought he'd prefer to be mixing with people his own age while he's here. That of course led to the problem of which side to put him in."

"Tell me you didn't put him on the girls side Nosaku." The chill that entered her voice seeped into his old veins and caused him to shiver in reaction.

"Ah, well, you see, No-chan. The thing is, there's no way to prove that he's a he. And if I insist that he stays on the male side, then you and I both know what those hormone driven teens will do to him, given half a chance." Nodoka paused as she thought about some of the things Nabiki and Akane had told her about the Furinkan male change rooms.

"You might have a point, but make sure he's given a choice, if the boys are too stupid to leave a sleeping bear alone then that's their problem and believe me he'll make it their problem. Tell him what you think would be the probable action of the boys and let him decide. He's had too few choices of his own to make in his life, it's about time he started."

"That's a little harsh isn't it?"

"He has to learn like everyone else, it's great to make your own choices, but sometimes there are consequences and there's usually no one to blame but yourself. I don't like it, but it has to be done. I agree with your assessment of the situation for the moment, but ask him first, promise me?"

"I promise Nodoka, on my word as Clan Leader, I will do nothing to harm your son. He will be given the choice and we'll go from there. Now, how's life been for you..." The two continued to chat for a good hour about life in general, both feeling a great deal better about the situation now that they knew where they stood.

-In the Academies dining hall-

Ranma patted her full stomach as she surveyed the detritus of an eight course meal, the fact that four of those had been main meals was the cause of some of the wide eyed stares of those at the surrounding tables. One of the girls at a neighboring table gained enough courage to speak to the new girl.

After gaining Ranmas attention with a hand wave. "Aren't you afraid you'll destroy your figure?" She gestured at the plates and cups around the tiny girl.

"Nah, with the way I burn calories it ain't a problem. Mind you I don't normally eat quite that much, it's just that I ain't eaten since four this morning." Which in Ranma speak might as well be just the other side of eternity.

"So what's your name? I'm Yumi, Yumi Ishinomori, I'm here from Nagasaki."

"Hi, the names Ranma, from Tokyo."

"Ranma what?" Yumi flipped her ponytail to one side while she waited for Ranmas response.

"Er, just Ranma. My father disowned me because I refused to marry the person he wanted me to."

"Eeeew, that's so gross, I didn't think families did that anymore."

"Yeah still happens, mainly in rich families and old samurai families, not sure why it had to happen in my family though."

Across the room one of the bigger girls snorted loud enough to be heard across the general hub-bub. "Just goes to show they'll let any trash in here these days." Glancing pointedly at Ranma and the girls clustered around her table.

"Ooh did you hear that Ranma? Why don't you kick her ass?" Yumi unlike the large girl had seen Ranmas impromptu display earlier and thought she had a good idea of how good Ranma was.

"Why would I do that, I mean I agree with her, they obviously do let in all kinds. Otherwise there's no way she'd be here. Who is she anyway?" He asked across the general giggling going on around his table.

"That's Ayu Dekisugi, she's the schools 'Female Freestyle under18's Martial arts' champion, and she doesn't pass up too many chances to rub peoples noses in it." Yumi was disgusted with the bigger girl, she had hurt people that were her friends, and she had a mean streak a mile wide.

"That's right, pipsqueak. And you just earned a free lesson in how to take a punch." Ayu swung her arm across the table only to meet with air. Ranma leant her chair back on to two legs and even as she passed the balance point, kicked out at the edge of the table with a decent shove. This had the effect of shoving the table into Ayu's legs causing her to flip onto the table top belly first, not too humiliating except for the fact Ranma hadn't cleared her plates yet. Ranma on the other hand used the momentum gained to lift herself from her falling seat and somersault into a ready position facing the currently downed champ.

"Did you guys say champion, or chimpanzee, cause with table manners like that I'd believe she's related to monkeys." Ranma snickered even as several of the girls lost it completely and convulsed with laughter. By now the crowd gathered had reached a respectable number of both boys and girls. So when Dekisugi flicked her wrist out and released a butter knife to fly at Ranma there were quite a number of people who both saw it and were endangered by it.

Again Ranma dodged the attack, only to decide that the knife itself was dangerous to any bystander who weren't paying attention to the fight. Her hand flickered out and caught it by the handle. She dropped the blade even as her opponent rolled to her feet on the side of the table closest to her. Ranma narrowed her eyes as she thought about the near miss.

"That's it, I challenge you."

"You may be too dim to notice, bitch, but I'm already gonna kill you."

"Nah, this ain't a good place to have a fight, I'll see you outside on the main courtyard, at seven in the morning. That is unless you're too much of a coward!" Ranma stopped pulling the verbal punches, before she'd been trying for ridicule to unhinge her opponent, now she wanted Ayu to understand the kid gloves were coming off.

"Me? I'm no coward, I'll fight you anywhere, anytime! When I'm done with you they're going to have to pick your remains up in a bucket."

"Ooh that was almost good, if I hadn't heard it a hundred times before, from better martial artists than you'll ever dream of being. But if that's what floats yer boat who am I to argue. See'ya at seven butch." With that Ranma entered her advanced version of the Umi-sen-ken and left an extremely puzzled crowd behind in the dining room.

Ranma made her way back to Rio Itsunagi in her study and knocked on the door.

"Come in."

"Uh hi, Rio-san."

"Hi Ranma, how was the meal."

"Yeah great, except for some girl named Ayu."

"Ayu Dekisugi? What's she done now?"

"Um she kind of made me mad, and I challenged her."

"Do you plan on turning up?"

"Yeah, from what I could see she ain't no great shakes. If it come down to it the 'tomboy' could beat her with one hand tied behind her back, well at least for three out of five falls. No one else I run with would even break a sweat."

"You sound fairly confident so what's the problem?"

"Well I've only been here a few hours and I'm already in a fight. That's the first thing I suppose. The second is, from what people tell me she's good, if that's true, she might surprise me. If she does we may need medical help."

"So your not that confident after all. Well why don't you put limits on the combat?"

"Not my style, and anyway I ain't frightened for me. If I'm surprised in a fight I tend to level anything I label as a threat and then ask 'what the?'"

"Indeed, so you think you might hurt her, is that it?"

"Rio, I don't know how much you know about me, but I can easily put my fist through a three foot thick re-enforced concrete block. So yeah, course I can hurt her."

"If that's the case I'll make sure there's adequate medical staff on hand, just tell me where and when."

"Uh, you're not gonna try and stop it?"

"No. It's a matter of honor, why would I interfere between you two? One thing people seem to forget about Clan Itsunagi is that we are a very old samurai clan, and as such we take honor very seriously. If one side of the challenge chooses to back-down that's one thing, but if both sides are willing to go ahead with the fight then it must be allowed to be resolved. And plus, if you beat her, you may stop her from challenging any of the new girls for a while."

"How many has she fought?"

"Since she won the title, she's challenged eight newcomers, nine with you. Three backed down, without loss of face in the eyes of the school, though she still rubs their noses in it every chance she gets. Then there were the actual fights. No finesse just brute power, she went in to inflict pain and she succeeded. One had to be sent home with Clan Itsunagi's apologies, the other four took between four and eight weeks to recover, several had broken bones."

"She broke bones, what for? I'm feelin' better'n better about this by the second. It's time she learned that there's always someone, faster, stronger, or more skilled out there. It's just her luck I happen to be all three." Ranma smirked, the evil one that told people there was going to be lashings of pain involved but that's alright, cause I won't feel a thing.

"Okay Ranma, just be quick about it, there's no point dragging it out."

"Yeah there is, trust me on this, if I end it quick she gets to claim it was a lucky hit, and I never hear the end of it. I'm gonna have to demolish her the slow way I'm afraid. I ain't gonna enjoy it, but I gotta do what I gotta do." Anyone who's heard a doctor say 'This won't hurt a bit.' will understand why Rio didn't believe Ranma for a second.

"Just promise me it won't get too brutal."

"No can do Rio, all bets were off the second she threw a knife at me in a crowded room."

"She did what? Was anyone hurt." Rio straightened up in her chair, thinking to herself she, meaning Ayu had gone too far this time.

"Nah just her pride, I caught the knife and stopped things from getting any worse. Um, not to sound too pushy but could I get a room or something, I'd like to rest before I have to fight tomorrow."

"Sure, there are several rooms available and one suite. Before you make a decision though, Nosaku-sama left a message with me that he'd like to talk to you as soon as you can."

"Suppose I'd better go see what he wants then. See ya in a little while Rio-san."

"Will do Ranma, he'll be in his study just ask for directions when you get over there. See you later." She waved at Ranmas departing back.

-over at the Itsunagi clan home-

"He's on his way now Nosaku-sama."

"Why thank you Rio-chan. How do you think he'll fit in around here."

"Well once the initial shock wears off I'm sure everyone will get used to him." She giggled lightly as she realized what she'd said.

"So, you think he will have an easy time of it and others will have to adapt to him?"

"When you put it like that, yes. It's like an aura he carries with him, it puts almost everyone at ease in moments. The ones it doesn't seem to be the ones who become rivals and enemies."

"Yes I see that in him also. It should prove interesting in the morning when Ranma takes on Ayu though shouldn't it?"

"How do you do that, I only just found out about it and I'm the dorm manager."

"Oh I have my ways. Hold on, I'll have to talk to you later. It seems Ranma is here. Come in Ranma." Nosaku put the phone down as Ranma hesitantly pushed the door open and entered the comfortable looking room. "So how have you been finding things so far?"

Ranma scratched the back of her neck as she thought about the best way to answer that question. "I'm not sure what to think so far, I've been insulted, threatened and I've challenged somebody. So far it's just like being at home, well except that I issued the challenge this time."

"Ah yes, Ayu Dekisugi. That one should learn when to keep her head down." Nosaku chuckled at the perplexed expression on Ranmas face.

"How did you hear about that?"

"As I just told Rio I have my ways. Unfortunately Ayu has over stepped the bounds of commonsense this time. After she recovers from the challenge match I'll have to either send her home, or punish her."

"Why? I'm the one who challenged her."

"Put simply I don't condone the use of throwing weapons in the dining hall. No matter what provocation, that response was inappropriate."

"Uh, yeah I kind of thought so too, though I doubt she'll need further punishment to let her know she's done the wrong thing. I intend a rub her nose in it."

"Hmmm, maybe. Whatever you intend I must be seen to act for the good of the Academy. Anyway that's not your problem, I'll deal with that when the time comes. On a different note, I just spoke with Rio, she tells me you'd like a room. Now there's a slight problem with that. You're currently locked as a girl which complicates the matter. Normally I'd just allocate you a room over in the boys wing, but as your mother mentioned to me on the phone earlier you know what kind of things those boys will be thinking about you. Now I'm sure you could handle yourself in that situation but I'd rather not have to deal with a number of injured students."

"You spoke to mom, how is she?"

"Hmm, she's pretty good at the moment, she was worried that you hadn't turned up on the island yet, but other than that she's happy. The Tendo family has implemented the first stage of 'hoodwink the fiancées'. Shampoo went haring off to the docks after Nabiki sold them the information that you'd been seen heading in that direction, then she returned home to pack some essentials and headed off for the airport. I'm actually surprised she was that easily misled, I understood she's a highly skilled tracker."

"She is normally, but this time her emotions are getting in the way. That's something her grand-mother has been trying to break her of for the last few years. What about Ukyo any idea what she's up to?"

"Well I hear she's decided to wait for you, in the meantime she's gone home for a visit. Nodoka says that she'll be back in a month or so."

"That's good, just having Shampoo on the war path is enough thanks."

"You didn't ask about Kodachi I notice?" Ranma shuddered at the mere mention of that name.

"She ain't no fiancée, no way. Let's justsaythe human race would die out if we were the last two humans on the face of the planet." His vehemence startled Nosaku for a moment until he remembered his last dealings with the deranged family.

"Yes well, we still have to find you a room for the night. Now as I see it you have three choices. The first is a room over here in the main house, secondly you can take a room in the boys dormitory, and third there's a choice of a room or a small suite in the girls dormitory. When you first arrived I was going to put you somewhere in the dormitories as I felt you'd probably like to be dealing with people your own age. Before you make a decision though I feel I should try to explain some things to you. When you were a few years younger your mother set up a scholarship for you here at the Academy, if at some point during your stay here you choose to use some of that scholarship then the rules of the Academy come into effect. All students whether they're visiting or members of the family must stay in the Academies dormitory. To avoid that problem with the boys I ask you to consider lodging on the girls side, there is the added bonus at the moment of having a suite to yourself, that's a bedroom, living/study room and a toilet. Unfortunately that will mean that you'll have to use the girls baths, though I'm sure you can find some privacy if you'd like it. No one here knows that you are in fact a male or at least very few do, and they're unlikely to believe it anyway."

"Oh yeah, and the second they find out about the curse and verify it for themselves they'll want my head on a stick. Nah, if you don't mind I'll tell them about the curse, whether they believe me or not at least I can point out that I tried to tell them. Anyway you said there's a room over here that I can use, if I can avoid the whole mess in the first place I will, thanks."

"Okay if that's the way you want it that's fine with me. Just don't ignore the others over at the Academy, you never know you might make some friends." The young red-head looked forlorn at that thought, 'What would it be like to have friends? The kind that cared about me the person, not what I could do for them.' People believed that Ranma didn't understand that he had no real friends, and for the first six months in Nerima they'd have been right. But as is often the case Ranma learned the difference by observing how others reacted to each other. No one cared about what happened to him as long as it didn't affect them in anyway. Sure some of them would help him out if he was in trouble, but it would always be revealed later that there was something that they stood to gain by doing it. It was never just for Ranmas sake.

"Sure! I'd like that." Nosaku smiled for the first time, he'd read into Ranma deeper than anyone else seemed able to, and had seen the depths of his pain. Having nothing other than the art was affecting him more strongly than he would ever let on.

"Right then I'll just show you to a room and get you settled for the night. Did you want anything from your pack tonight?"

"Oh yeah, I better go and get that, there's some stuff in there that I really shouldn't leave anywhere I can't see it."

"Don't worry I'll have someone bring it over."

"Um, Nosaku-sama do you have any masters in 'Hidden weapons' technique?"

"What kind of technique is that? I don't think I've ever heard of it, do you mean like concealed weapons?"

"Something like that, the difference is that if you searched the person, even with a metal detector you wouldn't find anything, but if they were to disarm, well let me tell you about Mu Tsu the Chinese male warrior. When he lets loose he can release anything upwards of half a ton of sharpened steel at his opponent. Now that kind of weight would normally slow a person down, but not an expert in the art. When I started to learn it I felt the full effects of the weight, but as I refined the technique I started to feel the weight less and less. Now I can carry more than Mu Tsu and I don't even feel it. Most of my sub-space pockets where I keep things are in my backpack, though I keep some of the more volatile things on my person. So unless your a master in 'Hidden weapons' there's just no way you could pick up my backpack, because you'd feel the weight."

"That sounds like a handy skill to have, but wouldn't the weight affect the surroundings. Like when you put it down, wouldn't the floor be affected by having that kind of weight on it."

"Nah, it's kind of funny but it only affects intelligent beings. Don't ask why, cause then I'd have to answer, and that would take most of the night, and even then I'm not sure I could make you believe me. I don't even believe some of the things Kho Lon told me about it and she's got hundreds of years more experience at it than I do."

"Hmm why don't you try me young one, you'll find I'm much more flexible than you'd believe."

"Nah I ain't gonna try and prove it, that's what would take all night. Instead let me tell you a little about the real world. Now the human mind is a wonderful thing, complex and all that stuff, well that's howElderKhoLon started anyway, well to a certain degree it's sole purpose is to protect mankind from all the things that are superfluous to mans survival. The reason being if we can't perceive them then they can't affect us. Things like spirits and Kami. Under stress the human mind can open up a little and that's why we have legends and myths, but on the whole we can walk through those kind of things and not react. Some sensitive people may get goose bumps, others interact without knowing they're doing it. Ryoga and his family are perfect examples of that, they can't see the inter-spatial tunnels that they use to get around, but they can feel them, something like iron feels the pull from a magnet, that's why they're lost all the time. They step into an inter-spatial tunnel and find themselves on the other side of the world. Now a lot of those tunnels open up into air at a great height or other such dangerous places, that's called natural selection, Hibikis who can't tell that the termination point of a tunnel is dangerous just by the sensations they receive in feedback, well let's just say they don't live to tell about it. Now sub-space pockets on the other hand, are kind of mobile, i.e. you can attach them to solid things like a body or a bag and they'll go where ever that solid object goes. Now to prove it I'd have to teach you the first steps of 'Hidden weapons' and that could take the better part of several days. So if you don't mind I'll hold off on that until another day."

"Hmmm, I'll hold you to that young man, it sounds like a highly useful technique to have."

"That's not the half of it, you can also use it as a training technique. Try doing kata while carrying an extra couple hundred kilos of weight on you. It kind of acts like an increase in gravity, at least until you get used to it. Take Mu Tsu for example, at the moment Ryoga is a match for him, he's restricted by all the excess weight. Now if he ever took the weapons off and just used straight martial arts, well let's just say there wouldn't be much left of Ryoga, even with the Bakusai Tenketsu that Kho Lon taught him. The other thing is that both Mu Tsu and I have been taught the Bakusai Tenketsu so his only advantage dissapears the second we lose the weapons. That's why it's always best to defeat a master of 'Hidden weapons' as soon as possible, because we just get stronger and faster the more weapons we throw at you." Ranma smiled as she waxed enthusiastic about her chosen field of expertise.

"That's always nice to know, but if you don't mind these old bones will pass on the chance to test that theory. Once I would have relished the chance to make you eat those words, but now I find that I much prefer to relax."

"Come on, I happen to know that you have mastered at least five martial arts. You could probably wipe the floor with most of the people I know in Nerima."

"True, but like I said I prefer to just practice the art now. I don't have the energy to compete at that level. As you grow older you find that there are more important things than proving you're the best. It all becomes shallow and meaningless after a while. You have to push the boundaries of what you accept as your limits, not just in one sphere of interest but in everything you do. Now there's a saying about people who limit themselves to doing just the one thing well, they're called 'one trick ponies'. That means that take that one thing away from them and they have no sense of self, their whole being rests on one set of skills. Kami forfend, but if you were ever to be crippled and unable to perform the art, what would you do? How would you feel? When you come to think about your life you might like to add that to your list of questions." Ranma just groaned as the elder man managed to add even more hassle to his already complex life. "Now if you want to go get your pack I can then get you settled, the room I have in mind for you has its own bathroom en suite so you'll not have to worry about other members of the family walking in on you."

"That's cool, I really hate being walked in on when I'm bathing. It happened more often than I like to contemplate when I lived at the Tendo dojo."

"Yes well the less said about your time there the better, now run along and I'll see you shortly." He gestured towards the door to make sure that Ranma got the message, while it was interesting to talk about the depth of the young mans martial knowledge it wasn't getting them any rest. And he for one intended to be there in the morning to personally watch the match between her and Ayu. Ranma took the hint and dissapeared in a blur of motion, while he hadn't really done that much today, well his day had started at four in the morning and now it was getting on for eight in the evening, if he was going to take that bitch down a peg then he'd better get plenty of rest tonight. Not that there was any doubt in his mind as to the outcome of the fight, it was just fatigue tended to make things more difficult than they had to be. It took Ranma just slightly more than two minutes to make his way back to the Academy where he knocked on the door to Rio's study for the third time that evening.

"Come in, the doors open."

"Hi Rio," Ranma smiled at the older woman, "just came over to pick up my backpack and let you know that I decided to stay over at the main house for the moment."

"Oh, okay. I was looking forward to spending more time with you, but if you need time to yourself then staying over in the house is probably for the best."

"Yeah, I kind of have a lot of thinking to do. That's not to say I don't intend to do other things with my time, like I sure could use some sparring with some good opponents. It'll be nice to deal with straight martial arts for a change."

"Huh?" Rio was perplexed at that statement.

"That's right you wouldn't know, but over the last couple of years I've had to deal with every whackos idea of what martial arts are supposed to be. You might smile when you hear your facing a master of 'martial arts Tea making', but let me tell you it ain't quite so funny when you get hit with an armor piercing tea bag. Of course I won in the end but my ears were ringing for days after that."

"What, you mean you were hit in the head with one of those."

"Nah, that was the water ladle, I managed to avoid most of the teabags, only one of them hit me in the arm." She rolled up her sleeve to show Rio the scar she'd gotten off of that interchange. "Kind of made a mess of my arm, so I returned the favor and made a mess of his face. Unfortunately that was when he got me with the ladle, I thought he'd ruptured my ear drum to start with. Well at least he vowed never to return for a rematch, and I can't say that I'll miss him. If he ever does come back I'm just gonna open up on him from a distance and see how he likes the improved Mouko Takabisha, on second thoughts I'd better make sure that we're outside if I do that, cause I don't think the dojo could stand up to it."

"Hmm, sounds like you've been in the wars, I'd love to hear about more of your adventures Ranma-kun but don't mind me if I tell you, you look kind of tired."

"Oh man, am I! I ain't stopped since this morning."

"Okay, then you'd better find yourself a bed for the evening." Rio giggled at the expression on the youngsters face.

"Yeah sounds good, see ya later Rio." Ranma made her way to the door and out into the hall where she found her backpack, it wasn't quite where she left it, and looked like someone had tried to drag it somewhere, though no one was around at the moment, she could feel someone watching her as she picked up the pack effortlessly and swung it up onto her shoulder. Down the hall Ayu Dekisugi watched the small compact mirror as the image of Ranma shouldered the bag that she'd had trouble dragging for more than a couple of feet. Then she pulled the mirror back as the little red-head craned her neck to look in her direction. 'Damn, does she have eyes in the back of her head or something' She then beat a hasty retreat back to her room, a lot less confident on the outcome of the challenge match in the morning. No way would she, Ayu Dekisugi back down from the fight, she just didn't think she could win against that kind of monster, 'I mean she has to be, to be able to pick that pack up like that'.

-A short while later back at the main house-

Ranma dismissed the notion that she was being spied upon, while he knew it was true, there was no point in pursuing the person, not when she could get a good nights sleep instead. As she stopped in the center of her new room she caught a whiff of herself and stopped to consider the thought that it might be better to get a bath first. He took a better smell at his underarms, 'Yeah definitely bath first, then sleep.' He thought to himself.

As her body lay back in the bathtub she began to contemplate one of the most disturbing days of his life. Locked again, and this time there didn't seem to be any quick cure, if what he'd been told was true, even if she left the island tomorrow it could take up to six months for the magic to unlock again.

That wasn't something he wanted to think too much about, at least he was no longer of the opinion that he was weaker when he was like this than when he was in male form. True he wasn't as strong, but she certainly wasn't weaker, in fact if they ever faced off, male Ranma against female then he was pretty sure his male form would be in trouble, all bluffs aside, power was good in a fight but speed was better, it doesn't matter how much power you can put behind a punch or kick, if you can't hit the target then it's a total waste of effort, and to offset that his girl form was plenty strong enough to put a dent in him.

He'd also learned plenty of other things about the female of the species, one of those was that his pain thresh-hold was higher as a female than as a male, to say her pain thresh-hold was higher, that wasn't to say she didn't feel the pain, with more sensitive nerve endings she felt things even more intensely than before, the thing was the female mind worked differently and she found she could filter out the pain signals to a much greater degree, then there was the added bonus of taste-buds that were much more sensitive, take ice-cream for example, as a male it tasted alright, in fact it was quite nice. But as a girl well let's just say it was probably the closest he'd ever come to having sex and leave it at that.

Then there were his emotions, he'd tended to insulate himself when it came to other people, and as such he didn't really understand them. He tended to be fairly blunt and failed to see that others were not as straightforward, so he didn't understand that they could play at being his friend while actually hating his guts. Not realizing that, he made himself even more vulnerable in that situation. As a girl he was beginning to learn cunning in other things than the art, he was able to manipulate males into giving him things when he went female, i.e. larger servings of ice cream or toppings and she was learning to manipulate people on a grander scale than that. He was able to see instances where he was being manipulated as well, his father hadn't gotten away with much in the last year and a half, though how he'd dealt with it had changed in the last six months. Where before the panda had received a pounding for doing things that Ranma considered to be wrong, now he tended to find much subtler punishments. The kind that Genma didn't even know were punishments until later when he'd had time to think and understand that he' d been disadvantaged in some way.

On the other hand he'd also started to learn the fine art of conversation. His communication skills were now on par with many of his peers, where before he'd tended to act and speak more like a ten year old, now he spoke at around the level of his actual age of eighteen.

And lastly and possibly most importantly as it would have the most impact on his stay on the island was the fact that the small list of questions he'd brought with him to try and find answers to had been augmented by the leader of clan Itsunagi. Now he wasn't just asking how he was going to get out of his current situation without losing some or all of his honor. The most precious thing that he had, as for a long time it was the only thing that he could call his own. Genma had taken everything else he possessed, and as such he held it more dear than life itself. Now he had even more to think about, like what did he want to do with his life, did he need an education, the fact that the fat panda didn't see the necessity of one for him kind of led him to believe that he should get the best education he could. Nerima was possibly the worst place for him to be while trying to gain that learning, but he hadn't had any other options until he'd learned that his mother was an Itsunagi and there was a family scholarship with his name on it. He'd decided he would accept it sometime earlier, but now had the confusion of what to actually study. There was so much out there that wasn't defined by martial arts that he was overwhelmed by the possibilities.

Ranma slapped both her cheeks in an attempt to get her head to stop whirling with the questions she had to find answers to. It kind of worked, her mind did focus on the most immediate concerns, such as sleep, and the fight she faced in the morning. Everything else could wait until the morrow. She stood up in the streaming water, and felt the excess water sheet from her body, the heat had turned her a delicate shade of pink, then she reached for the soft bath-towel on the rack by the sink and enfolded her body into it and began the task of drying herself off. Where before he would use anything to dry off after a bath, he found that his female form didn't react quite as well to rough towels as his male form did. He was also learning about the different feels and effects of different soaps and shampoos, and while he didn't understand what all those different things actually meant he did know that they felt better, and certainly smelt better to her now delicate nose. Another thing she'd had to get used to over the last few years.

Then she got dressed in the pajamas that Nabiki had gotten for her seventeenth birthday and headed for the futon, setting the alarm clock she'd pulled out of her stuff space she set it for six in the morning then lay back and pulled up the light blanket that was all that was needed on a warm night like this. It proved to be one of the most comfortable futons she'd ever slept on, as the mattress was slightly thicker than was normal, and she was asleep almost before her head touched the pillow.

----I have to say I really appreciate all the people who leave me reviews, it makes the writing process much more enjoyable. To know that there are people out there who are enjoying what I write. So please feel free to leave your comments and reviews for me to read.

Authors notes:- Yes there's a lot of gender confusion here, that's intentional, as I don't believe that you can deal with the different hormones without them changing you in some way. Also it's a proven fact that the female brain is wired differently than the male brain, not better, not worse, just different. A lot of these early chapters are going to be about how he deals with these changes, because lets face it, while he was in Nerima he never had the chance to sort his true feelings out, especially with his father and Soun Tendo pushing him to be what they believed he should be all the time.

If I offend anyone with my interpretation of Ranma then I suppose I'll apologize for that, but I won't change it. This is a story, not a biography and as such Ranma ain't gonna come looking for me if I mis-represent him. Plus I think this is more realistic than if he didn't consider all these things especially with the way his mind works.

And in the next installment Ranma unleashes some of her fighting skills on the hapless Ayu Dekisugi, Ranma starts to meditate on her life and the things she needs to change and those she needs to leave the same, also a member of the NWC manages to track Ranma down, what happens next...well you'll have to read it and find out.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer:- It is not my intention at any point in time to lay claim to the rights or privileges of the owners of Ranma-chan, or his cohorts in crime. I am but a lowly fan fiction writer. Any attempt to sue me will be found to be futile, as I am very poor. If you would like to change that fact at any point in time, please, please, please, sell me rights to Ranma half for one cent US. Okay, back to reality, I suppose it's back to the mines for me.

A/N First I'd like to apologise for how long it takes me to update. As I have a job I have to work my writing in around that. Also I have a number of projects I'm working on simultaneously, so my time is divided, then there's the issue of quality. Not that I'm saying this is great quality fiction, but I like to release the best I'm capable of, not the quickest I'm capable of. I hope that readers of this story take that into account as they wait for the updates.

Next I'd like to thank all those people who reviewed my work, I really appreciate it. It gives me as a writer a sense that what I write is appreciated by the reader. It's what fuels a writer to write, the hope that their work touches someone in some way. So please take the time to review the works you read, as we spend lots of time writing for you, it only takes a couple of minutes for you to return the favor. lol.

"Phoenix Ascension"

Chapter 3-D

Ranmas eyes flicked open several seconds before the alarm was due to go off. As it was before six a.m. it was still dark outside so he followed the glow to the alarm clock and nailed the off switch just as it started to chirrup out its morning call. He even left off the Bakusai Tenketsu as he didn't know if he could replace it easily.

When he woke he was feeling invigorated for the first time in what seemed an eternity, he'd managed to get a full nights sleep. No attacks by rivals, fiancees or family had marred his rest, and the feeling of energy flowing through his system allowed him to roll out of the futon in one smooth motion. Once on his feet he stretched and paused to think about what the day would bring, first up there was his challenge to Ayu Dekisugi. Not that the prospect of a fight before breakfast was anything new, it was just this fight was for his reasons, not just a defense against someone attacking him for some spurious reason that had flashed into their minds as supposed inspiration for an attack. No, this fight was his from start to finish. After that he'd just have to see.

If anyone ever bothered to ask, Ranma would be the first to tell them that he loved the art, and fighting in general, there was nothing that compared to the feeling he got when he'd learned an incredibly hard new technique, but at the end of the day it was only what he did, it wasn't who he was. That was one of the big problems he'd found with his life, he'd wake in the morning and from the moment he, and sometimes before he'd managed the feat of opening his eyes, he'd find himself fighting. It was getting ridiculous, everytime he tried something normal someone had to start an all in brawl with him. Since they'd turned up at the Tendo dojo he'd lost any sense of the peace he found while they'd been travelling on the road during the ten year training trip. That was the reason he'd finally run for the assured peace of Kanakita Island, he desperately needed the time to gather what wits he had and make some decisions about his future. All in all he was looking forward to the challenge of finding himself, but first things first, there was a fight to prepare for.

Reaching out with slender calloused fingers he brushed the light switch and illuminated some of the preparations that he'd made the night before. He reached down and ran those selfsame fingers over the heavy cotton of his gi, there were two of them, one for each of his forms. He spent a few moments remembering the fights he'd had with his mother over the inclusion of a formfitting gi for his female form. The main argument had been that he was a man against his mothers contention that it was true only half the time and sometimes even less than that. Then to further his argument he'd shrugged his shoulders and said in a very adult tone, "So?" As arguments went it had left Nodoka strangely unmoved, and in the end his mother had insisted, and as he well new, what Nodoka wanted she usually got. He'd scoffed at his mothers assertion that it would feel better to be wearing something that fit, both for the comfort factor and for safety in a fight. She'd stated that in a fight there wouldn't be any loose folds of cloth that an opponent could grab and use against him, and to prove the point she'd doused him with cold water and then thrown him into a wall, carefull to grab a fold of cloth so as to demonstrate how easy it would be. As shock tactics went it worked pretty well, it shook up many of his preconceived ideas about the so called weaker sex and got him to reconsider her idea. Even though he'd fought hard against it, once he'd tried it on he realized that it really did make a difference to how he felt.

After a few weeks his mother had started on her next level of change for Ranma, the one where she asked him to wear appropriate undergarments, and if the first argument had been explosive, the second appeared to invoke the end of the world. At least from Ranmas perspective it did, finally after several days of incessant fighting in which most of the occupants of the dojo had wisely headed for the hills Ranma had relented on the condition that he'd wear the least girly clothes they could find, and that the knickers would have to be slightly large to accomodate several things if he was inadvertently changed back to male form. Again he was quite shocked at the difference the correct fitting clothes could make, even though they were the plainest they'd been able to find they added a whole new level of physical comfort that he'd never felt before when in girl form.

His emotions on the other hand were in an uproar as eleven years of Genmas training came into contact with his mothers indomitable will.

Of course there'd been other fights due to the changes in his wardrobe, first and easiest was his father who'd been cowed after being threatened with the business end of the family honor blade. Then came Akane, who had assumed that Ranma was wearing girls clothes because he was a pervert, and then without asking for clarification she'd malleted him into the next ward. Nodoka had had words with her over that, and when he returned later that night she'd looked at him sceptically even as she apologised for what she'd done.

Of course Nodoka being Nodoka decided that she really did have a daughter in one sense, and was determined to impart her knowledge to said child. Ranma glared at his mother over her latest addition to his wardrobe. The dress could truly be called beautiful, in the sunlight it was exquisite as light refracted from the finest emerald green silk causing it to shimmer like a heatwave. Ranma being Ranma had tried for subtlety when he refused his mothers request that he wear the dress, but telling her there was no way on earth she would get him to wear it and that she had to be crazy to even suggest it, possibly wasn't his best ever attempt at diplomacy. Then she'd pulled the big guns out and levelled the charge that her son didn't love her anymore, with artistic tears in her eyes, at that point he had caved in nearly as fast as Genma when confronted with Nodoka. Ranma grudgingly wore the dress, after all he'd worn dresses before so it really wasn't that much of a reach for his pride. When his mother had seen him she'd gushed about how cute he was, then with a slight frown she'd pointed out how tight the dress was in certain places. Ranma hadn't connected the conversation to himself at that point, then she elaborated and told him that the dress was showing the lines of his underwear then went on to tell him that this kind of dress looked better without them. He'd looked at her while he figured out what she was asking of him.

-flashback-

"So what do you suggest mother?"

"Well they'll have to come off, that way there'll be no panty lines."

"Nu-uh, no way I'm wearing this dress without nothin' underneath!"

"I suppose it was too much to ask." Ranma sighed as he thought he'd won that round, "Yes son, you'd have to have a great deal of confidence and pride in yourself to wear that dress the way it should be worn." She smiled gently as she unleashed his greatest weakness against him.

Ranma stood and looked at his mother with out expression, then he turned and walked towards his room. Nodoka smiled fit to split her face as she contemplated yet another easy win.

After waiting for him to return for ten minutes she went to check on him to see what was keeping him. What she'd found had surprised her, for laying across the bed was the dress, and there was no sign of Ranma. She then searched his cupboards to find that all his clothes and possesions were gone, she panicked a little as she considered that he might go to such lengths to show his displeasure at her request.

For the first day she wasn't too concerned, Nabiki and Kasumi convinced her that Ranma would return around dinnertime. They'd been wrong, as a day stretched into two, then into a week a truly distressed mother vowed to never push him to wear something that she knew deep down he wasn't comfortable with.

Still there was no sign of the young martial artist, as a month passed, Nodokas eyes were red most of the time from her crying, she spent much time wondering if he'd ever forgive her, or at least come home, and then at the end of the fifth week she'd opened the front door to find him standing there, pack slung over his shoulder and a grim expression on his face.

Nodoka gave him no time to say anything as she grabbed him into a bear hug and held on for dear life as she cried into his shirt and asked him to forgive her. Ranma had taken her shoulders in his hands and pushed her to arms length, then stated very firmly.

"Don't ever try that again mother, because if you do then I'm gone. Not for a little while, but for good. I can make it on my own, that's one thing I've learned, I don't need the Saotome name, or the Tendos. If push comes to shove, I can move to a country that doesn't care if I have no family name." His voice remained cold and harsh even as his mother paled at the words he spoke.

-End flashback-

Ranma grimaced at the memory, not even sure if he would have truly followed through with it. Nodoka had backed off so far that he hadn't seen her for several weeks, he'd finally had to go over to her home to have a quiet chat with her to let her know that she'd been forgiven, it was just that if he ever wore a dress it would be a matter of need, never one of choice.

Taking his hand off the cloth of the gi he reached for the buttons on his pajama top and undid them, there'd been less of a fight over the pj's, since what was the point once he'd given up on not wearing girls underwear. Removing the pj bottoms he stood in the centre of the room as naked as the day he was born, he considered taking a shower, but then decided that the exercise he'd be doing would render that a waste of time, so he reached for his pack and pulled out a sports bra and panty set and pulled them on without thinking about it too hard, then came the gi. All in all it took only a couple of minutes to get up and get dressed for the day.

Turning around he caught his reflection in the full length mirror he'd noticed the night before. If he were vain he'd probably admit to looking good in black. It was the hair, or so his mother had told him, hanging loose as it was it seemed even more vivid when contrasted against the jet(1) of his gi, like a living flame it writhed around his shoulders everytime he moved, and made his female forms skin seem even more pale. Taking a few practiced moments he reached up and placed the hair into its usual pig-tail and then tucked it under the collar of his gi to keep it out of the way. Briefly he touched his shoulders and then dragged his fingers over the cloth down over his chest, he smiled at the thought of the personalised 'Anything Goes' emblem that was now under his fingers, in more ways than one since he'd won the challenge match against Happosai. Without even looking he could picture it, Ranma wore the same one that Genma should wear, the Kanji for 'Mountain' over the one for 'Ocean', with both inter-twined with the symbol for 'fist', black silkthread used to embroider the symbols on the black material.A not so subtle allusion to the hidden techniques of Genmas style, the fact that Ranma could also lay claim to the emblems that Happosai and Soun used was beside the point, he'd decided that it would become too crowded if he tried to show all the techniques he could use, and even then he didn't have the right to show some of those due to honor commitments. Soun also wore the black gi of the style, but it was so faded that most would consider it to be brown, and after his wife died he had picked the styles emblem from the material leaving it devoid of markers. Genma on the other hand proved to be the exception, he refused to wear a gi that would feel like a uniform, especially if the officials could use it to recognise him.

A quick glance over his shoulder showed that the time was now ten minutes after six, and that he still had nearly the full hour to prepare for the fight. He decided that he needed to warm up, so he headed for the door and for the quite outside.

The pig-tail bobbed as he made his way out onto the courtyard barefoot, shoes could be a serious problem for a martial artist as they could slip when he needed the traction most. He could feel the cold stone against the soles of his feet and the rough grain of the rock as he stepped forward assured him that he'd have no trouble maintaining his grip. Deciding to forego a traditional stretching regime Ranma headed for the treeline at what he considered to be a jog, anyone else would have had trouble tracking his movement if they didn't already know where he was headed. Just before he entered the trees he looked up to make sure the branches were exactly where his senses had told him they were, and then leapt for the branches a couple of meters above the ground. He spent the next several minutes loping through the tree canopy at a respectable pace, then to add to it he started to speed up over the next ten minutes finally pushing himself far enough that he generated a slight sheen of sweat on his brow. Then with half an hour to go he jumped to the ground, and started to do jumping jacks, or at least his version of them, he started by jumping a metre into the air, then repeating it twenty more times before he added an extra metre to the height. Repeating the process until he was jumping to nearly ten metres above the ground on each bound then he started to do what some would deem to be a world class trampoline routine, the problem with that assesment would be the fact that there was no trampoline, he executed backflips, foreward somersualts, then moved up to multiples, then he started to twist. He felt it was a great way to limber up as it didn't just work on the muscles but also worked any kinks out of his chi flows, and got his blood pumping.

He kept up with that for almost twenty minutes, then deciding he'd had enough, and that he needed to head back if he wanted to be in time for his challenge match. Where before he was loping through the treetops now he kind of ricocheted through them in a gravity defying show of aerial agility, each branch he touched barely trembled at his passing, only the breeze of his passing stirred the leaves to any kind of movement. He even danced across the leaves at one point, showing that the movies weren't all that wrong in the possibilities, it was basically the same technique that allowed him to roof hop without leaving a trail of broken roof tiles in his wake. It was just carried to the nth degree in this exercise. This kind of practice was good for him as it improved his eyesight and dexterity to near astronomical proportions.

As he came out of the trees he saw a few people around for the fight but no sign of the person that would be fighting him. Slowing down he sauntered across the courtyard to the place he'd chosen for the match, and then waved the crowd back to what he considered to be a safe distance. Then the wait began, Ayu would come when she was ready, and Ranma would have to wait as long as it took, maybe not as long as the challenge matches against Ryoga could take, but she could certainly push for the psychological advantage. Not that it would do her any good but she was welcome to try.

The clock ticked over the ten minutes to seven mark and his opponent finally made an appearance. It was at that point that Ranma decided to do one final set of stretches, mainly designed to reclaim the psychological highground more than any real need to stretch.

Ayu Dekisugi glared across the thirty feet of courtyard that her from her tiny redheaded opponent. She tried desperately to dispel the feeling that the thirty feet between them just wasn't far enough, there just seemed to be something off about the other fighter. Sure she'd faced small opponents all her life, it came with the fact that she had always been well above average height and weight. In the past she'd used her extra size to blatantly intimidate her opponents, making their attacks falter and their defence sloppy. In this instance she was getting the feeling that Ranma wasn't intimidated by her size at all, in fact it had begun to dawn on her that nothing much could intimidate the diminutive redhead, well nothing human anyway and Ranma would thank his lucky stars that the local wildlife found feral cat to be a very tasty dish indeed.

Deciding there was no profit in delaying any further she began her warmup stretches while casting furtive glances across the intervening space trying to ascertain from Ranma's warmup what kind of skill level to expect. If what she was seeing was correct the low feeling in the pit of her stomach became more and more intense as she realised she was outclassed on all front's. She was pretty sure that the human body wasn't supposed to move that way, and especially not that way. She gave a tiny shudder as she considered what kind of training had led to that level of flexibility. Added to what she already knew she now had a monstrously strong, fast and incredibly flexible opponent facing off against her, the only advantage she seemed to have was that she outweighed her opponent by nearly thirty kilograms and maybe her reach was a little longer, somehow her findings didn't reassure her.

At a couple of minutes before seven the crowd began to gather and formed a circle just over twice the distance between the two fighters across. The quiet murmuring of voices grew louder and louder as the crowd of spectators increased in numbers, the windows on the courtyard side of the building began to open as even more spectators gathered to watch the approaching duel. As the clock struck seven a voice called from the back of the crowd that was circling them.

"Quiet! Everybody quiet down!" The crowd recognised the voice and those closest to it parted to allow clan elder Nosaku through. Ranma from a position that looked remarkably like a pretzel observed him approach the centre of the circle of onlookers, she straightened up and joined Ayu Dekisugi in watching as he raised his hands asking for complete silence. The crowd became hushed as he lowered his hands and began to speak.

"For those of you who do not know this is a formal honour match, as such Clan Itsunagi reserves the right to enforce clan rule. First and foremost any death blow shall result in total forfeiture of any claim to honour and shall be brought before a court of law on the mainland. Second the fight is to be unarmed combat only, unrestricted other than rule one, do you both agree?" He waited for both of the girls to acknowledge his question and then continued. "Third, combat is to be considered resolved if either participant is unable to continue to fight either by being rendered completely immobile for a count of ten or by being knocked unconscious. The fourth rule is that either combatant may choose to back down at any time, but by doing so shall be declared the loser by forfeiture." Ayu Dekisugi stared at Nosaku Itsunagi, asking herself why he'd chosen to grace this particular duel with his presence when he hadn't turned up for any of her earlier fights.

"Now as we're all agreed on the conditions of the fight, please take your places," he paused as both combatants moved to face each other at a distance of two metres. Then he raised his hand, "Begin!" He bowed to the two combatants and accepted theirs in return.

Ayu would have moved immediately, but the others stance felt wrong. She didn't seem to be prepared in anyway, but something was telling her she was wrong, it was a subtle thing but it was definitely there. She decided to open up with a move that had won her a number of fights in the past, in this case Ranma had seen it and several variations of it before and wasn't suckered into the trap that Dekisugi layed out for her, instead she moved back, and then again when Ayu didn't let up. On the third try at the same move Ranma decided that her opponent could use some encouragement.

"So we gonna get this fight underway, or would you like to warm up some more?" He smirked, which several of the males in the crowd decided looked cute in a wicked, evil sort of way, kind of like a kitten playing mock fights with its siblings. As they and Ayu were about to find out Ranma had more, and sharper teeth than that, and cute was definitely not a word to use in conjunction with his name.

Ayu scowled as she took the bait and charged in an attempt to plow through Ranmas defenses. The problem was her opponent kept backing away faster and faster until she was nearly running to keep up. That was when the world went wrong, she was the one trying to do damage, her opponent was too busy running. Which was nothing unusual in her experience, that was probably why she missed her target ducking down and slamming her toughened little foot into the bigger girls shin. In accordance with one of the laws of physics she found that a body induced to motion was indeed prone to inertia, or the fact that it would continue in the direction of motion unless some other force acted against it, something like friction or gravity. Which was another thing she could have done without learning about today. Even though she managed to mostly roll through the fall that followed she still managed to graze the skin on her right shoulder.

Completing the roll she came to her feet facing the wrong way, and expecting the diminutive redhead to be breathing down her neck she rolled forward again and twisted as she came to her feet facing the way she'd come. When she looked up she found that Ranma hadn't followed her at all, she was still standing where she'd tripped Ayu up. With her hands crossed over her chest and her foot tapping she waited impatiently for the bigger girl to compose herself and make a return move. Which she did, she came forward slower this time, not trying to take everything in one bite like she usually did. This time she'd try subtlety, her fist flew out in a feint, she felt the fact that it was all speed and absolutely no power, thinking that Ranma might try to grab the arm she left it there extended for just a little too long, Ranma decided that he'd had enough, subtly deflecting the upraised arm and sidestepping it, he darted forward and slammed an open palm into Dekisugis diaphram. More of a push than anything else but still powerful enough to neatly fold Ayu around the palm, she began her second flight of the day.

Most people would have been out of the fight at this stage but Dekisugi was made of sterner stuff than that, she struggled to breathe even as she staggered to her feet. This time she'd wait for Ranma to make a move, this had the added bonus of allowing her to regain her breath after having her lungs explosively compressed. It also gave her a chance to regain some of her composure since the much smaller girl had handled her like a ragdoll so far, all the skill she'd gained over the last seven years didn't seem to help in any way against Ranma. So far the only thing she'd gained had been a large number of bruises.

Ranma on the other hand was approaching at a slow walk breathing easily, his stance said that he was totally unprepared for any kind of attack but his opponent if she'd learned anything had learned caution.

With someone like Ranma the only way to stand a chance was to go all out from the start, while covering all the defensive holes that attacking inevitably opened. Ayu was a good fighter in normal terms, but as he'd told Rio the previous night she wouldn't even stand a chance against Akane. Someone who was often over looked in Nerima, Akane was a very skilled martial artist in her own right, the problem was that the level of her nominal sparring partners was so much higher that it often seemed they didn't take her seriously, though it couldn't be further from the truth in Ranmas case. He'd been training her since he first agreed to spar with him, the trouble was Akane refused to accept that it was training, even though her defense was much better and she'd nearly doubled her speed.

For the next five minutes or so Ranma dodged attacks from the larger girl while taunting her incessantly about anything that came to mind, it was actually suprising how sensitive and resentful Ayu was of both her size and the petite frames of the other girls around her. Providing Ranma with ample ammunition to use against her. Some of the girls in the crowd winced in sympathy at some of the things Ranma came up with. To add injury to the insult he'd jab out every so often and tap Ayu to let her know that the fight could be ended by him at any time, he just chose to extend it so everyone knew that she had been beaten so thoroughly that she wouldn't challenge anyone for a long time.

Ayu Dekisugi was getting desperate, here she was the champion of the islands martial arts competition and she was being handled like she was a child stepping onto the mat for the very first time. It was past time in her opinion to make some kind of impact on Ranma, but every trick she knew was countered almost before she could initiate it.

She decided that since Ranma was stronger than she was then she'd have to use her extra mass to offset that fact. Rushing in to grapple without taking any precautions proved to be a painful mistake. The hands of her opponent flickered, too fast to follow, she only knew where they'd been by the explosions of pain as Ranma hit several nerve ganglions from her wrist up to her armpit. Then to add insult to injury the little redheaded bitch turned the tables on her and grabbed both lapels of her gi in preparation for a throw. Sensing the impending throw more than anything else she braced herself to resist the expected direction of the throw, but as anyone who'd faced Ranma before could have told her, when it looks like he's about to attack you from the front, then you'd better look for the attack from behind or the side.

Ranma chose the prior of the two options and jumped into the air, releasing his hold on Ayus right lapel he used the left as leverage to twist his body into position to kick her legs out from under her. Ayu windmilled her arms out in a panic as she tried to counteract the fifty kilos of weight that was pulling her seriously off balance, then she felt the kick to the back of her right kneecap and knew that she was in serious trouble. Where as before she had been off balance she now found herself pivoting around on her left foot. As she gained momentum she let out a startled scream as her feet left the ground and she found herself airborne. Ranma released the hold he had on her clothes as she sailed past the point of no return and used his free hand to slow his descent to the ground so as not to slam face first into the stone paving himself. All in all it had taken him less than half a second from the start of his counterattack until Ayu found herself flying.

Ranma gained his feet in plenty of time to see his opponent crash to the ground in an uncontrolled tumble, even at a distance of nearly twenty feet he heard the impact and winced. Then he recalled some of the stories he'd been told about Ayus dealings with her challenge matches and stopped regretting his actions. Okay maybe not stopped totally, but he felt a little justified, he just didn't feel too good about hurting a girl, no matter what Nodoka had been trying to pound into him for the last eight months.

Ranma knew the match was over, he just hoped that a certain pig-headed girl knew it as well.

He cursed under his breath as she struggled back to her feet, 'Why the hell can't she admit she's been beaten?' He thought to himself, then gave himself a shake as he remembered his own tenacity when it came to fighting, he didn't admit defeat either so he shouldn't be surprised if the same trait showed up in an opponent. In the case of some of his fights he suspected that his opponent was too stupid to know that they'd been beaten, but in Ayus case he knew that it was a case of pride. Unfortunatly the old adage that 'Pride comes before the fall' still held true. Ranma had stated that he'd take his opponent apart slowly the night before, though he'd meant to humiliate her more than injure her. Now it might be the only way to end the fight before too much damage was done.

Ayu on the other hand was looking at her opponent through blurry eyes and wondering why they weren't attacking her, the fact that there were at least three or four people opposite her should have meant that Nosuku Itsunagi would have to end the fight due to Ranma getting outside assistance. Totally dismissing the fact that she might be experiencing the effects of a concussion she managed to regain her feet and attain some semblance of her normal fighting stance. That was when she noticed that the girl she was fighting wasn't where she expected her to be. Looking around in a panic she tried to locate Ranma before she unleashed another one of those devastaiting combos. So busy was she that she failed to check the first place any one experienced with the Saotome branch of 'Anything Goes' would have checked, pain exploded as a foot plowed into her collarbone and smashed her back into the paving for the second time in less than a minute. So powerful was the blow that she felt her collarbone snap and a new wave of pain slammed through her body, she didn't have much time to contemplate that though as her head smacked into the stone and rendered the world blessedly black.

Ranma settled into a casual stance facing her fallen adversary and bowed, Ayu may be a bully in the worst sense of the word but she'd shown herself to have courage as well. Then he turned to the clan elder and awaited his word on the challenge match.

Nosaku Itsunagi bowed to Ranma and when he straightened asked. "Ranma? Do you accept that your honour has been restored?"

Ranma returned the bow before answering in a quiet voice. "I do Clan Elder."

"Then I declare that this match is over and that Ranma has defeated Ayu Dekisugi, let there be no argument." He looked solemnly around at the circle of spectators. Then he bowed to Ranma again before departing for his mornings usual of business affairs.

Rio and Yumi ran up to Ranma and started to talk at her at the same time, leaving a startled redhead to try and decipher what the hell they were trying to say. He finally understood that Yumi had started with.

"Oh my God, oh my God! That was so cool!" She released an excited squeal as she hugged Ranma and swung him around.

"Yes that was a good fight Ranma, you'll have to teach me some of that while you're here."

Ranma decided to answer Rio first as it would also answer Yumi who'd started babbling, "Me too!" as often as she could until she had to take a deep breath or get dizzy from lack of oxygen.

"What me teach? I dunno, I mean I might be a master of the Saotome Ryu, but I've never really taught anyone except Akane." He stumbled over the admission that he didn't feel comfortable with the idea at all. The fact that he was also the Grandmaster of his style and that there was only five or six practitioners of the art, also didn't seem right to be bragging about it, so for the moment he'd leave it at master and work to expand the number of martial artists who practiced 'Anything Goes'

"In that case I'll see you at eleven this morning in training hall three."

"Umm, I don't mean to be rude but why?"

"Well the only way to learn to teach is to teach. Therefore I'll be happy to use you as my assistant until you feel confident in you own ability." Rio smiled as Ranma crinkled her nose in thought.

"But I thought you were the dormitory manager."

"That's right I am, but it doesn't really take up that much time. Mostly I assign duties and act as arbiter in disputes. So I have plenty of time to teach. Come on Ranma give it a try, afterall what can it hurt?"

"But..."

"Don't answer now if you're not sure. Just think about it please, and while you do, ask yourself why you train and what about the future of your art? When you have the answer to that you'll know what you have to do eventually, you're just too good to not pass on your skills."

"Maybe I should see you a little bit before that so you can decide what you want me to teach them."

"That's fine, I'll see you at ten thirty in training hall three and we can discuss it." Río smiled at Ranma and then walked back towards the Academy. In the background the medic's finally finished with Ayu Dekisugi and she was loaded on to a stretcher and carried away to the infirmary.

"Eh?"

"Don't worry Ranma I'll show you where it is on the way to breakfast. So can you teach me that."

"What? Oh Yumi, teach you to do what?"

"You know, to fight like that."

"Hmmm, I won't be here long enough to teach you to fight like that, but I suppose I could show you a few things to make you tougher, and faster. Maybe some chi enhancement techniques. Will that do?"

"Chi? Isn't that like impossible? All those people who've disproved the existence of chi."

"Yeah, shows what those westerners know about martial arts. Watch this, now this is a little beyond what I'll have time to teach you but it'll give you some ideas of what's possible." Ranma concentrated hard as he pulled out a small amount of chi and focused it into a ball of pure white energy, then with a flick of his wrist the half centimetre wide ball of chi flew at one of the practice posts a few metres away. Yumi and several other spectators watched wide-eyed as the tiny ball of Chi punched through the front of the post and then detonated to spray splinters across the courtyard.

"Whoa! You can teach people to do that?" Yumi was almost bouncing on the tips of her toes in excitement. Several others crowded around him making it known that they wanted to learn also. Ranma backed away slightly, waving his hands to try and calm people down.

"Yeah, I think I can. Lets just say that everyone is capable of learning to do this to a lesser or greater extent. Basically what I'll be trying to teach you is Chi enhancement."

"What's that mean?"

"Okay just one more demonstration," Ranma turned back to the people who'd crowded in close, "now I want you to jump as high as you can from a standing start." What followed was hilarious from Ranma's perspective as five or six girls and boys tried to jump as high as they could. One of the boys, who turned out to be on a basketball team managed a respectable 1.2 m while the others fell well short of that. "Okay that's enough to give you an idea. Now I'll show you what Chi enhancement can do." Ranma barely flexed his ankles and soared into the air almost tripling the highest jump any of the others had achieved.

"That should give you a rough idea of what I mean by Chi enhancement and I barely used any of the available power I have." Unbeknown to Ranma those few still crowded around him were not the only people who saw his demonstration. Nosaku and Río Itsunagi as well as a few of the other instructors on the island had also seen what he was capable of. "Anyway if you want to learn that, I'll see what I can arrange with Nosaku Itsunagi, he might not like me teaching this kind of stuff to people."

"I don't think he'd mind, it's not like you're trying to hurt anyone." One of the elder boys opined.

"True, but let's just say people tend to misunderstand when I'm involved so I'd prefer to have him say it's alright first."

"Okay, say you want to grab a bath before breakfast? I'll scrub your back for you, and you can get mine. I haven't had someone to help with that since I was little and it feels kind of nice." The slightly younger girl smiled hopefully at Ranma as she waited for the answer to her question. Not that with Ranma involved it was anything like the one she was expecting.

"Um, Yumi you know how you didn't believe in Chi, and then I proved it to you?" Ranma waited for his friend to nod in acknowledgement of his question. "Well I'm going to ask you to believe that magic also exists, and while I can't prove it here," Ranma looked lost for a second as he searched for words, "look I just need you to trust me on this, Chi exists and so does magic."

"Okay I'll believe you, you haven't lied to me yet. So what's this all about?"

"Like I said magic exists. Well I'm kind of a victim of a curse. Now it ain't nothing too terrible, though when I first got it I thought it was the pretty bad."

"So what kind of curse do you have?" Yumi asked in trepidation.

"You got to promise not to laugh, but I was cursed to be a girl. Now don't look at me like that I'm serious, I was born a guy, and that's all I was until two years ago."

"But that's...impossible! You look just like..."

"Yeah I know, if it helps I look just like my mum did when she was a teenager. I suppose I should start at the beginning, a little over two years ago my Pops and I were coming to the end of our training trip. In his infinite wisdom, and lack of ability to read the travel guide that was written in Chinese we made our way to the cursed training grounds of Jhusenkyou. Anyway, to cut a long story short, pops and I chose to ignore the Jhusenkyou tour guide and hopped up on to the poles over the cursed pools. Anyway after we both got dunked in a different pool the guide finally got us calmed down and explained how the curse worked. What happens is each pool has had something drown in it, and whatever that was, is what you turn into as if you were born that way, at least if we share a lot of DNA in common. So if for instance I'd fallen in the spring of drowned pig I'd have been an exact copy of the pig that drowned as we don't share enough DNA. There are other, weirder pools than that, but you get the idea."

"So you turned into a girl?"

"Yeah, damn freakiest thing that ever happened to me. One second I was a boy and the next well let's say I hunted a certain panda down and beat the hell out of him."

"Panda? Where does a panda come into this?"

"That would be my Pops, he fell in the 'Spring of drowned panda', as the guide said 'There very tragic tale of panda that drown in spring two thousand years ago.' To answer your question, yeah I turn into a girl, but if it was that simple it wouldn't be much of a curse. If it just changed me into a girl eventually I'd learn to live with it, wouldn't necessarily like it but I could live with it. What it is, is a water-based curse. With the application of cold water I turn into a girl and with cold I turn back into a boy, add in the fact that you become a water magnet and it makes it really hard to adjust. The guide said it had something to do with karmic destiny, I'd been raised to be a man amongst men and to think very little of women. So the curse chose to teach me the difference between what I'd been taught and reality."

Yumi took a small step away from Ranma before asking her next question. "So why are you telling me this? Do you expect me to believe it?"

"If we were any where but on Kanakita Island I'd be able to show you. But this island seems to have some kind of ward stones that lock any magic that enters the area of effect for the spell. If you don't believe me then just ask Nosaku or Rio, they'll tell you."

"Don't think I won't, why'd you have to tell me all this? I liked you, and now I don't know what to think."

"Well it's kind of got to do with you asking if I'd like to take a bath with you. When I first got the curse I met my fiancee for the first time, when she thought I was a girl she was relieved and asked if we could be friends. Then before I could explain to her about the curse, she found out for herself when she walked in on me in the bath. So you see I didn't want to make the same mistake again."

"You could have not told me, you say you're locked in your cursed form. I would never have needed to know."

"With the way my life works, I could almost garuantee that you'd find out. Then how would you feel if you knew about the curse and remembered that I'd taken baths with you?"

"...I'd think you were a pervert who wanted to look at my body..."

"Right, and you wouldn't be my friend anymore would you? I don't have many friends, I kind of hoped that we could be. Sorry about this." Ranma turned and started to walk away, his shoulders slumped in dejection.

"Hey! Ranma? Give me a chance to wrap my head around this. It's just, it's so wierd, I've never known anyone with a curse before. Your personality doesn't change when you do, does it?"

"Nah, not really, I'm still me no matter what form I'm in. Look could we start again?" He turned back around to face her with hope shining in his eyes.

The raven haired girl paused for a moment while she thought about the possibility of having Ranma as a friend. "Yeah I think I can live with it. Hi, my name's Yumi Ishinomori, and I'm from Nagasaki." She smiled at the diminutive redhead opposite her.

"Hi nice to meet'cha Yumi, I'm Ranma, from Tokyo." He reached out a hand to greet her in the western style he'd heard about, only to pull it back when she hesitated. "You do know that the curse isn't contagious don't you. You have to actually fall in one of the springs to get a curse." Yumi flushed guiltily as she thought about her bad manners.

"Sorry Ranma, it may take a little while to get used to, but hey you haven't done anything wrong. Don't mind me, I still want to be friends, and you're definitely going to teach me about that chi stuff." Yumi was almost giddy at the thought of learning something so advanced.

"Oh yeah, by the end of it you're gonna wish you'd never met me." Then Ranma started to giggle until Yumi joined in.

"Let's go grab that bath, I'll get your back."

"Huh? Guy here, remember?"

"Yes, I remember. Just one question, have you seen your body before?"

"Well yeah! I have had the curse for over two years now."

"Well then that's alright, I haven't got anything you haven't seen before, have I?"

"No. But..." He stopped talking as she grabbed his wrist and dragged him with her towards the Academy.

"Well lets go, I really need someone to do my back." Looking over her shoulder she giggled at the poleaxed look on Ranmas face.

"Okay. You don't have to tell anyone else about the curse do you?" He was truly worried at the thought. If she did he knew it would be a lot harder to make friends, not that he was very skilled at it anyway.

"No, I think I'll keep it to myself. After-all no one would believe me."

Ten minutes later an extremely nervous Ranma stepped out of the change room into the girls bathing area, fortunately they were the only two here at this time of day.

"Hey Ranma get over here!" He moved over to her while trying to keep his eyes averted, that only worked for a few steps as he rammed his toe into a slight riser near one of the baths.

"Ite! Ite! Ite! That hurt!" He dropped his towel as he grabbed his foot and cradled his offended toe.

"You might as well look you know. It's not like I'm going to hit you or anything." She smiled encouragingly as Ranma shyly sought her eyes. "There that's better, at least you can see where you're going."

A reluctant redhead made her way to the bathing stool and began to scrub herself of the mornings sweat.

"So could you tell me where this cursed spring is?"

"What the hell would you want to know something like that for!" Ranma almost bolted off of the small bathing stool to confront the other teen.

"Well I kind of thought that I might be able to get a set of breasts like that. To be honest I didn't think they were that big." Ranma crashed back onto the stool, his body aflame as he blushed worse than he ever had before, a true full body blush that reached from his scalp right down to his feet.

"I don't think its possible for it to do that." He mumbled, "I mean, I was told that it works off DNA so I'd have to have the possibility in me already. I always thought that it was something I got from my mothers side."

"She's an Itsunagi isn't she?" Ranma nodded even as he finished washing all the parts he could reach. "I've seen some of the other Itsunagi girls here, none of them are that well endowed."

His shoulders slumped. "Yeah, moms not either, oh well that must mean I got it from pops side." He complied with her hand motion to turn around so she could wash his back, then let out a sigh as she soaped his back in even motions. It really was quite nice not to have to struggle to do it himself.

"Is that bad?"

"If you knew the old man then you'd know that it ain't been no bed of roses being related to that idiot."

"That's a little harsh isn't it?"

"Nah, I'll tell you about my life sometime and then you can decide for yourself." Then he repeated Yumis' earlier motion to turn around so he could return the favor, which she did with a suprising alacrity.

Yumi gasped in surprise as Ranmas strong fingers started to soap her back, suprise that she'd chosen to do so without a wash cloth. Then as he started to work on her shoulders her eyes began to flutter closed and she let out a sigh of her own. Tension she hadn't even known was there seemed to flow out of her as she relaxed even more. By the time Ranma had reached the small of her back her eyes were completely closed and she was almost moaning in pleasure. He'd worked very thoroughly all the way down her spine and now the world seemed very warm and fuzzy around the edges. She almost let out a moan of dissapointment when he reached for the rinse bucket and washed the soap from her back to finish what had been her first real massage.

Ranma was blushing lightly as he remembered the first time Doc Tofu had done this for him, though he'd pulled a muscle and it was completely therapuetic, it had felt really good. Much better than the sports massage his father was capable of, and certainly different to anything he'd received in his male form, that was when he first suspected that women had better nervous systems than men. At least when it came to pleasure stimuli. He pulled his slightly glowing hands from her back, the Reiki technique that he'd been shown was even stronger now and worked better, as his chi combined with hers to smooth the flow of energy throughout her body.

The other girl had almost melted into a puddle of contentment when she felt strong hands pick her up and place her in the furo(2) the hot water continuing to relax her after the initial adjustment to the temperature. She managed to blink her eyes open as she heard a splash as Ranma rinsed off and then joined her in the water.

"How'd you do that? It felt like liquid fire running through my back, but it felt so good."

"Ah, it weren't nothing. Just a little western physio with some Reiki thrown in. For some reason they work well together or that's what my Sensei told me and I ain't seen nothing to prove him wrong."

"Can you teach that too?"

"What the Reiki? Yeah sure, you'll need better control of your chi to do it, but as you'll be learning that from me as well it shouldn't take more than a few weeks to get the basics down. After that you'll need to find a credited Reiki master to teach you more. What I teach you should do you for simple muscle strains, for things like true healing you really need to know how the body works so you don't do more harm than help."

"Wow I didn't think it would be that complicated."

"It's not, that's why it's so easy to hurt someone with it. You can apply too much energy too quickly. Do you remember the post I hit with a chi ball earlier, well the effect can be similar. Not exactly that explosive but it can still hurt. The hard part is learning the necessary control, what to apply and when."

"Cool, you could make a fortune doing just what you did to me, let alone the Reiki healing thing."

"Yeah well I'd really like to just keep practicing the art, but it might be nice to have a regular income." He paused in thought as something Nosaku had said earlier about him becoming a cripple and being unable to practice the art, now he had an even wider view of the art, after all the underlying ethos was almost the same for both healer and martial artist. Then there was Nabiki to consider, she had some good ideas when it came to earning money, and not all of them had something to do with the Yakuza like methods she'd employed when she was younger. She blinked as she felt a hand shaking her shoulder.

"Hey Ranma wake up, it's time for breakfast." She let out a startled yelp as The busty redhead dissapeared from under her hand in a fine spray of water.

"Why didn't you say so?" As he engulfed his body in the towel he'd bought and began to dry himself vigorously. Yumi chuckled as she watched the other girls antics, it was just so hard to believe that he was a male at times. Then she stretched and followed suit by drying off and heading for the change room. She found a startled Ranma pressed against the wall, bug-eyed at what was before him. It seemed like half the girls in the school had descended on the baths, and while he was kind of inured to female flesh, unlike a certain pig-boy, he was definitely approaching overload with all the naked girls in front of him.

Yumi giggled at the expression on his face, 'Some martial arts master, to be beaten by a little display of flesh'. Then she looked up and realized, 'Okay maybe a not so little display of flesh.' Then she chuckled some more before asking.

"What's wrong Ranma?" As if she didn't already know, not waiting for an answer she went on. "Why don't you use some of that speed you have to get out of here quicker?" Then she looked to find she was talking to an empty spot, which earned her a few strange stares from the other girls. 'Oh well I'll catch up with him at the breakfast table.'

Breakfast was over for Ranma almost before it began, as he inhaled his three servings of rice and miso soup along with some fried tofu, again the food was good, even if it didn't approach Kasumi status. Then he spent the rest of the meal in light conversation with the others at the table, most of which was about his fight that morning. After a while the room started to quieten down and Ranma thought they must be heading for classes, so it was time to find something to do.

He didn't really feel like doing kata at the moment, as he'd had a real fight earlier. He'd have to talk to Rio about the meditation exercises that Nosaku had mentioned the day before so that he could get started on that. After-all that was what he was here for. Maybe he could get someone to show him where the clans library was, he wouldn't mind seeing what kind of scrolls they had, if he knew the Itsunagi clan there'd probably be some really neat stuff in there.

Ranma placed his empty dishes on a tray and carried it the kitchen where those doing kitchen duty washed them up. Then he walked back to the main house.

A/N This went a little slower than I intended. That has to do with explaining what kind of person Ranma is now that he's had almost a year of instruction from his mother. He's changed in so many ways that he's almost a different person with some key things staying the same. Next installment the previously promised visitor, new techniques and a guest that will surprise some of the more cannonized readers. One thing you can be sure of, I don't do strict cannon as I feel that characters develop over time, and time has passed.

One of the problems I face is that so many of the characters in this fic are my own. I try to make them individual in their outlook and personality so that they don't end up as Mary/Mark Sues. I try to make sure they have their faults and that they're not all perfect, never making a mistake. It takes time to individualize each character, and like real life they'll take time to show their real characters. No one I know would ever bear their inner souls to a total stranger on first meeting them, neither do these people.

(1)Jet is a semi-precious stone that is black and hence another word for black, hence 'jet black'.

(2)Furo is the term for a Japanese bath. A bit more elaborate than western baths, and usually at a higher temperature, why I don't know, they just seem to like it that way. lol.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer - I ain't no Rumiko Takahashi, I am a mere vassal who worships at her deific feet. For any lawyers who work for her or any company that may own rights to Ranma half I pray you waste neither your time nor talents in suing me, as all I have is a AMD 3800 and an incomplete set of Ranma half volumes. And I'm sure if you asked Takahashi-sama nicely she would be happy to give you a set of Ranma half, and if you ask really nicely she may even sign them for you. As for the computer, I just managed to upgrade it from a Pentium III so I'd appreciate it if I could keep it, thanks.

"Phoenix Ascension"

Chapter 3 E

Ranma was sure there was a story behind where the Itsunagi family library was located, but to be honest she was more interested in the contents of the library than how it came to be situated thirty feet under-ground. Entering through the glass security door she found a small desk with a little old lady sitting behind it.

"Good morning, how can I help you?" She asked as she looked up from the computer screen.

"Ah, I have a couple of hours to kill, so I thought I'd take a look around the library."

The woman smiled at Ranma, "Oh I'm afraid it'll take longer than that, you'll have to come back to see all of it. By the way I'm Kaoru Itsunagi, and as you can see I'm the librarian."

"Hi I'm Ranma, just how big is the library?" Surprised at Kaorus reply.

"Hmmm, let me think, there are nine rooms each holding somewhere in the region of two hundred thousand books. Then there's the scroll room which holds around thirty thousand texts."

Ranma was stunned, and looked it, the largest family owned library she'd seen was the Kunos when she'd gone on that ill fated date to get the wishing sword, and that had only held around ten thousand volumes. The usual martial arts school had maybe a hundred scrolls, and considerably less than that after Genma left the area.

"Whoa that's huge, what kind of stuff do you have." Ranma spent a few moments trying to wrap her mind around the size of the library.

"Well it's a rather well stocked research library, the usual scientific sections including a section of theoretical works, then there's the medical sections containing both modern and ancient remedies, it also contains many forms of what the westerners call alternative medicine. There's also a large section on martial arts, though they're mainly modern techniques and probably wouldn't interest a martial artist of your caliber. The scrolls that you're probably interested in are held in a separate room. Many of them are too delicate to be handled very often so we've tried to translate them or transfer them to computer." She paused for breath for the first time since she'd begun rattling off the contents of the library.

"Uh, how'd you know I wouldn't be interested in modern stuff?" She frowned at the diminutive librarian.

She smiled back at the frowning redhead, "Well dear, it's not only books that I read. I'm nearly as old as Nosaku himself you know, and I've watched martial artists all my life. I know how good you are just by the way you move."

"But I..."

"Yes I know, you mask it very well, but you mask it too well if you understand me."

"Huh?"

"You don't just mask your ability to fight, you also hide your presence, if I hadn't seen you enter the room I wouldn't have known you were there. You also don't show any of your fighting spirit in your body language. While everyone else shows something, whether it's aggression or apathy, your's is totally neutral, and that's just not natural." She chuckled at the now perplexed expression on the younger womans face.

"Oh!" Ranma suddenly understood some of the things that Dr. Ono had said to him over the last couple of months.

"Well I'm sure you didn't come down that spiral staircase just to talk to an old woman. If you want any help I'll be here, all you have to do is ask."

"Um, I'm looking for something to read."

"Yes?" Kaoru left the question hanging as in her opinion there wasn't any other reason to come to a library. She looked thoughtful for a moment, "Can I ask you something?" She looked over her wire framed glasses at Ranma.

"Sure."

"I was wondering if you read any of the older languages and how well you can read them? If you can of course." She smiled at the young woman across her desk, it was really too much to expect a young person like this to know anything useful. That's why his answer really surprised her.

"Oh I read a few pretty well thanks to my old man. I can read three forms of ancient Chinese, one of Japanese and Sanskrit." Ranma tried not to sound too smug at the surprised expression on Kaorus face.

"My, you are well read aren't you? Could you do me a favor? I'm in the process of trying to translate several scrolls, you see it isn't enough that they're on computer, it helps if the people reading them don't need a translator."

"Yeah I can try to do that for you." Ranmas eyes lit up as she thought about translating something that others could read it easily.

"Oh would you? In that case hop on one of those computers over there, move the mouse and a screen that looks like this should come up." She turned the screen so that Ranma could see it. "Move the mouse to this icon and double click on it using the left button." She demonstrated what she meant. "Then double click on any of the files, each one is a complete scroll. When you find one that's in a language you know give me a yell and I'll show you some tricks to make it easier to read." She looked up to find she was talking to empty space as Ranma was already half way to the bank of computers, then chuckled to herself as she watched a fellow enthusiast lose herself in the task at hand.

-A few hours later-

Nosaku found Ranma in the library slowly running her finger down a line of ancient Chinese writing on a computer screen trying to wring some meaning out of the words, a pad of paper at her side held her translated version in modern Japanese.

"Ah, I thought I might find you here Ranma." Ranma was so absorbed in what she was doing that Nosaku thought an infantry battalion could have marched past and Ranma wouldn't have even noticed. When he received no reply he gave her a tap on the shoulder, then watched as she nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Eeeeee! Where did you come from? How'd you know I'd be here?" She tried, she really did, to not sound too indignant about being caught like that.

"It was quite easy really, I accessed the security network and found where you last used your swipe card and this is where it led me." He moved his hands to indicate he was talking about their current location.

"Did you need to talk to me about something?" Ranma sat up little straighter on her cushion waiting for his reply.

"Well yes I did need to talk to you about the fight this morning and I also thought you might like to know that it's just after 10 past 10," Nosaku waved Ranma back onto her cushion as she'd made to bolt for the door, "hold on a second Ranma, no need to rush, I'll only take a moment of your time."

"Okay, what do you need?" Ranma glanced at the door again.

"I've been thinking, Rio tells me she's asked you to help her in her classes so that you can learn how to become an instructor. That's right isn't it?"

"Yee-es." She admitted hesitantly, she wasn't sure it was a good idea, and didn't really know where Nosaku was taking the conversation.

"That's good, I hope you make good use of the time. Now as to what I hope you can teach, I noticed your display earlier, the one where you used chi. Well I was hoping you'd teach that to some of the students here, and maybe some of the instructors as well."

"Sure, that was kind of what I was hoping to teach anyway, it won't be easy but I think I can teach it. Everything else I do could be taught by someone else."

"Oh I'm sure not nearly everything, but yes we do have a number of highly competent instructors here. Don't take any guff from them if they tell you it's not possible, or if they try to tell you they already know it, get them to prove it if they do. Oh and try to stay calm, they won't eat you you know."

"Uh, okay." Ranma scratched the back of her head as she became nervous about the prospect of being someone else's instructor, she had so many fond memories of Genma and she didn't want to leave anyone else with those kind of memories.

"Well, I think that's all I needed to tell you young man, you better get a move on or you'll miss your chance to talk to Rio before the lesson starts." He sighed as he watched a certain redheaded bullet pass through the security gates with a yelled thanks. "Oh, to be that young and full of energy."

"I know what you mean, such a helpful young man." Kaoru came out from behind her desk and moved to gather Ranmas research notes. "He made good progress with this text as well. I had that enthusiasm when I was younger, still do, wish I had the energy to go with it. I was going to translate that whole library, I wonder where the time went?" Her sigh joined Nosakus.

"Ah, Kaoru my love, how are you this morning?" He said as he turned to the librarian raising his hand as if to carress her cheek.

"I've asked you not to call me that Nosaku." She evaded the hand with ease, while blushing gently at his antics.

"Why not, it's true you know. I've waited for you for years. When will you marry me?"

"I've told you before, I won't marry again. It hurt too much when I lost Isumi, I can't face that again."

"Then how about sleeping with me?" He ducked as her pen sailed across the room.

"Get out you old pervert, I'll not be spoken to like that in my library."

Nosaku headed for the door with his head covered and an evil sounding chuckle as he continued to dodge projectile stationary. He stopped on the other side of the security door and looked back through the security glass at the woman he'd loved for more than a quarter century, "One day my love, one day." Then he turned and headed for his study chuckling to himself.

Kaoru watched the man she admired and maybe l-l-loved as he turned and walked away. "Old fool! Maybe someday, but..." She turned and walked back to her seat, somehow the day didn't seem so bright since her No-kun had left.

-Meanwhile back at the Academy-

Ranma knocked on the door to training hall three and when he recieved no answer went into the currently empty room to wait for Rio. While she waited she decided to do one of her deceptivlely simple but more graceful kata, all smooth flowing movements, an onlooker could be forgiven for thinking there was no power in any of them, that of course would be a mistake, any one of those strikes carried the force of a wrecking ball.

Rio could feel the tightly leashed power as she walked into the room and became entrances as she watched Ranma almost dance across the polished wooden floor of the dojo. She'd once seen something like this performed, but the difference in skill level was like comparing dancing bears to a prima ballerina, the form had been there but the power and grace were missing. The air almost quivered with the tangible force of each movement. Then with an almost physical effort she pulled herself together and cleared her throat.

Ranma heard the door open and knew in an instant that Rio had arrived. She began to bring the kata to a close, cutting short the final attacking phase, where the practitioner went from the slow early movements to full offensive speed, where the walls and floor would reverberate to the power she released, while attempting to leave the grace of each movement unchanged. Plus he didn't want to do that indoors like he had the last time, the shockwaves from several af the moves had travelled a good ten metres and damaged the walls of the dojo. Few people knew the full extent of what he was truly capable of, and that was the way he liked it. 'It's not the friends you need to worry about, it's their friends and the friends of the friends.' It was one of Genmas favorite sayings, that didn't make it any the less a true statement. Even the old man had no real idea of what Ranma was capable of as he'd leave Ranma at a dojo for several weeks or months while he went out to pilfer whatever he could. Then when he'd worn out his welcome he'd drag Ranma away, most often in the dead of night.

When Ranma finished the last movement of the defensive phase of the kata he was a foot away from and bowing to a startled Rio.

"Good morning Sensei!"

"Good morning Ranma. How do you feel."

"Yeah I feel pretty good thanks."

"Not nervous at all?"

"A little, but Nosaku-sama told me that they won't eat me, so I'm a little better than I was when you asked me to do it."

"He was right you know, they want to learn what you have to teach. That means they'll listen to you, if you tell them they need to stand on their heads they will. So you need to be very clear about what you plan to teach them right from the start."

Ranma cocked her head to the side in listening mode. "Anything else I should do?"

"Yes, of course. It might sound silly but you need to start at the very beginning. Figure out the very first thing they need to know, when they get that down then move on to the more complex stuff. I mean there's no point teaching them the technique needed to throw a chi ball if they can't gather the energy in the first place."

"Yeah I kind of knew that, I've been reading books from Tofu Onos' library for a while now. I didn't really agree with a lot of what they held, especially concerning chi but then they rarely agreed with each other. First up there's the breathing exercises, and then the fact that strenuous exercise tends to help build chi reserves. I was going to start them on the breathing exercises they'll need, then as we move into more technical aspects of chi manipulation I'll start to fill them in on theory."

"Sounds good, do you know what you want to say to them?" At Ranmas nod she went on. "Okay, now don't talk to them in the same tone of voice all the time, there's nothing worse than talking in a monotone, you'll end up with a sleeping class. Emphasise certain key points, try to use humour even if it doesn't work they'll notice and pay attention. I think the most important thing you need to remember is that where chi is concerned, you, and you alone are the sensei. It doesn't matter how long they've been learning martial arts, or how long they've been an instructor, when they come to you to learn about chi, you are the master and they are the student. Do you think you can remember that?" Ranma swallowed hard as all the repurcussions floated through her mind.

"I can see you do. Don't let it worry you Ranma, just teach them what you know. We'll deal with any problems when they happen. Now I'm expecting somewhere in the region of thirty students to show up for this and some of those will be instructors from other classes. Just remain calm and remember they want to learn from you."

Ranmas shoulders relaxed as she thought her way through all of Rios instructions. "Okay, I think I can do that Rio."

"Good, why don't you use the next ten minutes or so meditating."

"Er, Rio, I've never meditated before. How do I do it?"

"You've never meditated before? How to explain this. Okay, find a comfortable position on the floor, try this position first." Rio sat down and entered the standard lotus position. "The idea is that it should be comfortable enough that you can relax but not enough for you to fall asleep. The sensation of meditation is something like the time between being fully awake and fully asleep, you'll be aware that you aren't quite awake but you'll also know that you're not dreaming. Your purpose here today is to relax and let your mind uncoil. Take deep even breaths, breathing in slowly and hold...and breathe out. Feel the tension flow from you, like water flowing to the sea, relax." She gauged the progress Ranma was making by how much she loosened up, also a gentle smile graced her lips as the peace decended on her. "Let your mind clear, nothing is important enough to disrupt this time, and breathe in slowly...and out. As a little trick to help you, I'd like you to imagine a shape, try a box, draw the lines to make the shape, can you see it?" Ranma nodded slowly.

Inside Ranma was relaxing to a level she'd never known before, the chaos that was his life receded to a distance as she relaxed even further. Rios voice lulled her to a serene place she'd never been before where all the cares the world had heaped on his shoulders weren't important. As she sank deeper into her meditation she began to imagine the box just as Rio suggested and then went further as an exercise she tried to draw a picture of the room in which she sat. With the skills of observation he'd gained over a lifetime he filled in each and every detail, when something strange happened, his chi senses extended out to fill the space he'd created in his head, now it wasn't just a representation of the room it was a map. She could feel each strand of chi that floated on the currents of air, the chi that had permeated the timber as thousands of people had trained in this room over the centuries. But mostly she could sense the woman seated across from her gently guiding her through her first steps of meditation. Without thinking Ranma extended a probe of chi to touch Rios and found she was being flooded with information, nothing specific just indicators that showed her health, some of her abilities were also there for a master to see. Fascinated Ranma wondered if this was what Tofu did when he consulted a patient, if it was it really wasn't any wonder that the doctor was as good as he was, he could see things about the patient that not even the patient could know. Then she noticed a flash of chi and a second later Rio had leaned forward to tap Ranma on the shoulder. Ranma gasped as she continued to watch the chi cascade from muscle to muscle as the older woman sat back and waited for the red haired girl to come back to the present. Ranma opened his eyes and blinked a few times.

"Whoa that was different!" Ranma grinned as she took in the startled expression on the others face.

"What do you mean?"

"Well when you told me to imagine a box a picture of this room kind of came to me. It felt really wierd but I could sense all of the chi around me, including yours. I mean I've always been able to get a general idea of any strong chi around me, but this is so much clearer. But that's not the interesting part, it was...it was amazing! When you leaned forward to touch me I could see it, there was a flash of chi just before you moved and then a continuous stream of chi as you moved each muscle needed to reach over and tap me. That kind of clued me into other things that I hadn't seen up till then."

"Like you said that's different, I don't recall ever having anything like that happen to me. What do you think it means?"

"I don't know yet but I'm definitely going to try this again. I think at the very least it'll give me an advantage in a fight, there's that flash of chi just before you moved. If I could figure out how to see that in a fight well you can imagine what kind of advantage that would give me. Then there's other stuff too, like the fact I know that you broke your right wrist in three places a number of years ago." Rio looked startled at that and then looked at her wrist to try to figure out how Ranma knew, even knowing that there were no scars showing.

"Interesting, what are you going to do now?"

"Well first off I'm going to teach this class and then I'm going to practice for a while."

"It's good that you're relaxed now. You are relaxed aren't you?"

"Yeah, and maybe a little excited too. I knew that one day I'd have to teach the Anything Goes style if I don't want it to die out, but that seemed so far off. When Happosai signed my teachers license I wasn't sure what to do with it. Now I think I know."

Ranma looked up at a light knock on the door.

"Come in!" Rio called out to the students waiting outside, "Leave the door open please." She turned back to her trainee and asked "What do you want them to do while we wait for the rest of the class?"

"Uh, I suppose they'd better warm up."

"Okay then, you'll have to tell them that." She smirked at the startled look on Ranmas face.

"Do I gotta?"

"Yes, it's all part of teaching. At some point you have to tell the students what to do. Just think what kind of warm up they need and then tell them to do it, okay?"

"Yeah, I suppose. Students!" He waited until he had their attention. "If you could do a light warm up routine, nothing too hard though as you won't be doing any heavy exercise 'today'." She emphasised the last word to let them know it was only a small reprieve.

"There you see we'll make a sensei out of you yet."

"Hardy ha ha." she looked around again as she heard someone call her name and saw a smiling Yumi walk through the doorway.

"Hey Ranma how's it going?" Her dark eyes burned like coals, and the dimples in her cheeks grew even more pronounced as she smiled at her new friend

"Yeah pretty good Yumi, and it's sens..." Ranma trailed off as the man entering the room behind her friend sent the young girl stumbling into a group that was already warming up, as he brushed past her. He stood at roughly five feet and seven inches in height, had iron grey hair above his angular harsh features while his broad shoulders led down to well muscled arms covered in thick coarse hair. The rest of him gave the impression of great strength, muscles rippled with each step as he headed straight for Ranma stopping a couple of inches in front of the pig-tailed girl.

"So you're the self proclaimed chi-master, heh? You don't look like much."

"As they say looks can be deceiving." Ranma returned in a mild voice trying for the inscrutable master tone.

"Yes well, I watched you fight this morning with my student and I have to say I'm not impressed. You have some ability to be sure but you're no master. You would not have fared as well against me." The man sneered down at the little girl trying to intimidate her with his greater size.

"Makodai! What's the meaning of this? Why do you come into my class and insult one of my assistants?" Rio charged across the room to confront her uncle.

"Rio stay out of this, I won't tolerate your interference." He frowned at the approaching young woman. Now that Ranma was looking and had a name to go with the face she was seeing she realized why the face seemed so familiar, this man could be Koji thirty or more years in the future, and indeed was the teenagers father.

"So you're Kojis' father? So what do you want old man?"

"How dare you? You will respect me..."

"Or you'll what exactly? You ain't done anything to earn my respect, you just walked into this training hall and started abusing me. I could say the same, you will respect me. If you don't like it, you know what you can do, feel free to challenge me anytime you feel like eating crow." If it was possible the man seemed to grow even larger as he became enraged at her words.

"Very well, I give you one week to make peace with who ever you hold dear. As you took the right to make the rules in your challenge against Ayu I will also. The rules that apply for 'Open, Open, Unrestricted' will be used. We meet on the courtyard at noon seven days hence."

"'Kay, I'll see you then. I hope you don't believe that the fight against Ayu was all I'm capable of though. If you do you're in for a surprise." Ranma stood bristling, looking like the small dog that refused to back down from a Rottwieller. It looked like a total mismatch.

"That's enough you two, this is supposed to be a class. You may have no respect for me uncle, but you will respect this dojo. Now it's time for you to leave. You should be ashamed of the way you're acting" She stomped her foot in frustration as her uncle raised a brow in her direction.

"Very well Rio, I'm leaving. I'm dissapointed in you though, you actually believe all that bunk about her being a chi adept? At her age?" Having said what he came to say he turned on his heel and headed for the door, scattering the few late comers who stood transfixed in the doorway like a covey of quail.

Ranma quirked a delicate eyebrow in the direction of the departed elder, "What's his problem?"

"To tell you the truth...I...don't...know. I've never seen him like that before."

"Do you think it had anything to do with the fight this morning? I mean he did say he was Ayus instructor, didn't he?"

"To be honest I don't think it did, but then I'm not sure. You did defeat his prize pupil quite easily, but it doesn't feel right. Maybe I should have a word with Nosaku-sama after we finish here." She indicated their wide-eyed audience, even some of the instructors were stunned at the actions of the hitherto staid Makodai.

"I'll come with you, anything he tells you is probably something I need to hear as well. I think we'd better start the lesson now."

"Right. You lead, I'll only step in if you ask me to, or if you get in over your head, okay?"

"Sounds good to me." Ranma turned around to face her first class. "Okay, if I could have your attention please! Thankyou. Now for those of you who don't already know, my name is Ranma. Don't bother asking for my family name, as you'll save us both some embarrasment. I find the dishonour of being ronin to be a small price to pay for being out of a dishonourable situation that I could not resolve, especially as it involved destroying other peoples honour if I was to keep my own intact." Ranma paused for a moment to let what she'd said sink in. "If any of you are offended by the situation, or feel you can't learn from me, I'd prefer it if you leave now. What I'm teaching is a weapon in its own right, a little knowledge in this case can hurt you, or maybe someone else." Rio and several of the others who'd met the young woman at the front of the class blinked at the unusual bluntness and hard edge of her request, other than that no one moved.

"Fine, if you'd all like to take a seat you might as well relax for a while." She waited for the class to sit down on the smooth wooden floor. "After that Makodai fella came through I suppose a few of you might have doubts about my ability to use chi. I don't blame you, in one sense he was right most powerful chi adepts are very old. Well there's only one way to prove to you I know what I'm doing and that's for me to show you. Now imagine I'm walking down the street, it's dark and quiet. Out of a dark alley several men move to surround me. Now I ask you, I don't look that intimidating do I?" Ranma waited for the light chuckle to die down. "Now if I then did this," Ranma suddenly became the centre of a massive red inferno of chi flames, streaked with black lightning, "You can imagine what would happen, yes?"

"Yeah they'd probably crap themselves!" That came from the back row, well to be honest there was only a back row as those who'd been closest to the instructor had scrambled back in fear. Ranma let the aura drop as she chuckled at the smart aleck in her class.

"Well that to! The most likely outcome is they'd be extremely intimidated and probably run away. That would save me the trouble of pounding them into the pavement, and all for a little chi expended. What I just did is called a battle aura, it's probably one of the first visible thing you'll do with your chi. What I was doing was what everyone does, releasing chi into the air. The difference is that the amount of chi I released then was about a thousand times stronger than a normal person would be able to release. Now it's not just a pretty sight to see, it can be very informative. If your opponent can create a battle aura you'll be able to tell what emotional state they're in. Except in two situations, the first is if the aura is white. That means that they're completely calm and un-emotional, the other I'll get to in a little while." Ranma frowned and brought the aura back up, this time it was a reddish colour. "Right, you can use emotion to drive the aura, this is an anger aura. If you see an aura coloured pink to crimson you can pretty much guess that the person is angry, the more intense the colour the stronger the emotion. Now who can guess what emotion I'm using to fuel my chi now." The aura enveloping her body turned a pale yellow colour as she waited for someone to answer the question. Those who met her questing eyes shifted uncomfortably before she moved on to the next person. "Anyone? Go on take a guess, don't worry if you're wrong." Finally after another minute one of the instructors sitting in the back raised a hand.

"Yes, you in the back row. Name first please."

"Certainly sensei, my name is Seiji Iketani." The man in question was wearing his gi with a red belt.

"Go ahead Iketani-sensei."

"It wouldn't be fear would it?" He asked hesitantly.

"Hmmm. Good guess, you'd think that would be right with all the sayings about scared people being yellow. Unfortunately that's not right, let me explain. Fear is the other case that I was talking about before. Fear will cause a persons aura to dissapear totally. Can anyone guess why?" This time the response was much faster. "Yes?"

"Kyoko Iwase." The young woman in the front row introduced herself, and then continued at Ranmas nod of acknowledgement. "Does it have anything to do with the fight or flight instinct?"

"Very good Iwase-san, I thought we'd have a little trouble with that one. Basically what the body does is it prepares itself to either fight or run away. In either case the body makes sure that all available energy is pulled where it's needed, that means you don't have any energy to use in an aura and it being an instinct you can't really fight it. Now back to the original question, yellow would tell you that the person is sad. Again the stronger the colour the aura is the more intense the emotion is. Eventually sadness tips over into depression where it will turn green. If it gets bad enough the aura almost goes black. If you ever see someone with a black aura you'd better either knock them out or get away from them as quickly as possible. People who've lost all hope and drop into despair tend to have black auras, it means that they're probably suicidal, if it's strong enough they won't much care if they take someone else with them."

"Now at the moment this is all a little advanced but there's a reason I'm talking about it. First question, who's seen something like this before, before you saw me do it that is?." Ranma waited until seven people in her class had their hands raised. "Okay, better than I hoped for. Of those who raised their hands, lower your hand if you didn't raise the aura in question yourself." Four of the hands went down, leaving two of the instructors and an extrememely petite girl in the second row with their hands up.

"Good, if I could get you three to stay after the class I need to talk to you." Ranma walked across the room then turned to face her students again. "The reason I asked is that there are side effects to powering your chi with an emotion. If you use, let's say anger to amplify your chi, after a while your emotional chi will affect your personality, call it a feed-back loop if you like. That will make it easier to use that emotion to power your chi. Sooner rather than later you'll find yourself in a vicious circle. You become a very angry person and eventually you'll become a berserker when you're angry. Sounds a little bit far-fetched doesn't it? I know a number of people who are in this situation right now. One uses depression and the other uses her anger, and while neither is close to the worst-case scenario it's only a matter of time until they lose control of their emotions or rather their emotions take control of them. Don't think I'm immune to it either, I had the most intense blue confidence aura. Confidence isn't really a problem as long as it doesn't control you. I was getting to the stage where I believed I could handle anything no matter how insane it was. I think I'd still have that problem if an old friend of mine hadn't beat me over the head a couple dozen times until I gave in to her greater wisdom and experience." She waited for the chuckles to die down. "I'm going to try to teach you to manipulate your chi the easy and safe way."

"When I first started to use chi I was about eleven I suppose, I can't really be any more exact than that because we were out in the wilderness. My father was training me to be the best martial artist, and to be honest I think he did a pretty good job." Ranma smiled, "At the time though I hated his guts, for seven months straight he ran me into the ground physically. Starting in the morning I'd pick up a small boulder, probably weighed about a quarter of what I did, then carry it up a steep hill as fast as I could. Then when I reached the top I'd roll it back down the hill while chasing it as fast as I could. What's this all got to do with chi mastery you're thinking." She steepled her fingers in front of her then began to tap her fingertips together. "At first nothing, but then as time went on my body hit rock bottom. I'd wake up in the morning tired and by time the day was over I'd just collapse onto my bedroll. Then one day something clicked, not in my head, because I didn't figure it out until I started reading books and scrolls leant to me by some friends. No not in my head, but in my body. Tired of the abuse it dug up something that I now believe to be an instinctual response to great stress. I tapped into my chi, and did what many others have done, I went beyond the bounds of my physical ability. What did I do you ask? Well it's quite simple, it's so simple that when I asked my friends about it they couldn't answer the question. What I did was learn to breathe the right way." Ranma held up her hands to forestall any comment.

"Hold on, let me finish. All martial artists learn to breathe right? I can see it in your faces. You feel you've been doing it right, well let me tell you, you only think you're doing it right. The right way isn't about how you take the air into your body, how you hold yourself or how you release your breath. It's about the focus you use when you breathe in and out. Who here knows anything about accupuncture? Or how about balancing chakra?" Most of the hands in the class went up in rapid succesion.

"Good, now according to several of the texts I've read there are seven chakra points on the human body, while in accupuncture they believe there are five meridian lines on the human body which they use to map key accupucture points. In a way they're both right, though not in a physical way. I mean if you cut someone open you wouldn't find any of these things, they're more of a spiritual guide. I have several theories about this but the most important one at this point is that the chakra act like resevoirs that the body uses to create and store chi, while the meridian lines are used to channel that chi to where the body needs it. That's what accupuncture does it subtly alters the flow of chi through the meridians thus affecting the body in the required way. Any questions so far?" Rio leant over and whispered into Ranmas ear.

"Slow it down a little Ranma, it looks like you've lost some of them. You're giving them too much information in one hit." Ranma looked at her class and was startled to find that several of the students did indeed have slightly glazed expressions, which wasn't good in her opinion as it meant that they were not really paying attention to her.

"Alright maybe if I show you what I mean. You. Come up here." The boy she was pointing too looked around and then hesitantly polnted to his chest. "Yes that's right, just step on up here and face the class please."

"Tagami Marugawa, Sensei! But my friends call me Tagi." He stood up and was half way to the front almost in one smooth leap. Ranma was startled by his enthusiasm and looked up at him strangely.

"Relax Tagami-kun, you're up here because I need a disply dummy." The young man flushed with embarrasment as several of his friends chuckled at his expense. He quickly found that he couldn't take offense at what she said though as the smile his beautiful sensei was giving him took any unintended sting out of her words. It was also doing a pretty good job of taking his breath away and he started to resemble a rabbit caught in headlights. "just stand up straight and face the class." Ranmas eyes widened a little as the teenager straightened up and gained nearly half a foot in height, she'd known he was tall but now she looked like a little child beside Tagami who stood at a very rangy six and a half feet. "Hmmm you're bigger than I thought..." Ranma trailed off as she became aware of half the girls and some of the boys giggling maddly, even some of the instructors were hard pressed to maintain a straight face. Rio who knew the truth about Ranma just put her head down as her shoulders began to skake in mirth, leaving a very confused redhead to sift through what she'd said that would leave Tagami blushing furiously from head to toe. When she figured it out she joined him rather quickly as her mind cottoned on to the unintended double entendre.

Ranma was rather hoping the ground would open up and swallow him whole as he tried to gather what dignity he could in this situation. 'At least I have their attention again.'

"Okay guys settle down, you and I both know she didn't mean it that way!" Rio had regained her composure enough to settle the class for Ranma.

"Thanks Rio. Something you need to know about me. Sometimes when I speak I have a tendency to lead with my foot, it doesn't really taste nice so I try to do it as little as possible. I trust you guys will cut me a little slack when it happens again?" She had regained the attention of the class, but at a great cost to her dignity. "Alright let's get back to the demonstration. As I said there are seven chakra, but I choose to focus only on the three that I consider to be important, mainly because it's very hard to concentrate on all seven at once, while getting the breathing technique right. The first and probably most important..." Ranma reached out with a slender finger and touched Tagami tight where his navel was, "...Is right here. I say it's the most important because I believe it to be the largest, I also think it distributes any stored chi to the other chakra. Now the second chakra I focus on is here..." Again she gestured, this time the young man had a hard time suppressing his reaction to having her finger come into contact with the area right over his heart. "...I believe this is the seat of the soul. So you can understand why I think it's important. And last, but certainly not the least is the one here..." Tagami Marugawa went slightly cross eyed as his senseis finger came to rest on the bridge of his nose. "This chakra is important for obvious reasons. If this one doesn't recieve adequate power your attention span suffers and that's when you miss things. I'm not going to ask you to focus on all three at first, you'll start with the first one and work up to the others as it becomes natural, and believe me when I say it won't become natural to you for quite a while. Thankyou Tagami-kun you can rejoin the others now." Ranma paused to allow her students to converse and try to digest what they'd been told.

"So what do you have to do? First of all how you breathe won't affect your chi, it's the focus of your breathing that will encourage your chakra to produce chi. I'm not going to ask you to practice this technique just in this room, or while you spar or train. If you only do it then you'll be wasting your time, this needs your full time attention. When you wake in the morning your first thought should be to check and make sure you're focusing correctly. Your last thought at night should be the same. You'll have to keep a close eye on your breathing throughout the day to make sure you're doing it right. Why you might ask, is it that important? The answer is yes it's very important. Chi acts very much like water, it tends to flow, it pools, it seeps into things, so the term chi resevoir is quite apt. Think of it like a big water tank, it might be huge, but in the bottom there's a small hole through which your body draws the chi it needs to run itself. That hole never closes and it never stops draining the water tank. Your breathing technique will stimulate the water tank to generate chi so that it fills up to the top, and by continuing to do so it will remain full. When you stop doing it right your chi level will drop due to your bodies need to maintain autonomous function, and all the activity you do during a day. Once I feel you've got a handle on this technique I'll show you several other techniques that will allow you to strengthen your body making you faster, stronger and more durable to both fatigue and damage. I'll also be showing you how to increase the size of your chi resvoir, how to increase the flow rate of chi so that you can develop your own techniques for fighting, healing and anything else you can think of. Now I want you to break up into pairs and work on your focus. Yes Yumi?" Ranma turned to her friend when she raised a hand to ask a question.

"How will we know if we're doing it right?"

"Trust me, there won't be any doubt in your mind when you get it down right. I won't tell you what it feels like, that way it will come as a total surprise and you'll know your mind isn't playing tricks on you. Just do the breathing exercise, don't attempt to do anything else. For a start it takes a while to build up a good ammount of chi, and secondly you may hurt yourself if you do something you're not prepared for. You should feel a difference within fifteen or twenty breaths, if you don't, then raise your hand and I'll come over and show you again. Don't worry if you don't get it immediatly, you'll find that some people take a little longer than others to get it down." Ranma walked around the class talking quietly all the time, pausing several times at different groups watching them closely. "Just relax, there's no pressure. It'll come to you in your own time. Breathing in, maintain your focus throughout the breath, and breathing out. Nice smooth breathing will help you as you start out." She turned around as one of the youngsters gasped aloud, to Ranmas chi sight it appeared as if the persons diaphram was glowing. She made her way over and smiled at the person. "Don't stop now, you've got it. Keep breathing." As the time passed more and more of the students got the basic focus down pat, several of them had raised their hands to ask for assistance from the sensei, and she'd trot over and run through the necessary steps again.

Ranma looked up startled when Rio tapped her on the shoulder.

"It's time to wrap things up Ranma, the class is almost over for the day." She smiled down at the tiny redhead.

"Okay sensei! Alright class your attention please! It's time to wrap things up, you all seem to have the technique working properly, so I want you to maintain it for as long as you can. Next time you come I'll start to show you some of the things you can do with chi to enhance your physical abilities. Those people who told me they've already created their own battle aura please stay behind for a moment." The class scrambled back to their feet and formed lines infront of their new sensei.

"Class dismissed!" Ranma watched as her class bowed to her, then bowed in return. Those she'd asked to stay made their way over to her while everyone else headed for the door.

"Don't forget to get cleaned up before you go to your next class." Rio called out to them as they trailed out the door.

Ranma looked over the three who'd stayed. "Take a seat guys, this won't take long. First up, I need you to keep track of how you feel when you practice this technique. Do you remember what I said about colour being important? Right, well I need you to control your emotions for a while, that means no matter how much provocation you're under, you are not to use the emotion that powered your battle aura. Are we clear on this?" Ranma waited while they nodded. "Fine, I don't want to be harsh, but if you don't learn to do this right you'll end up hurting yourselves. On the plus side, you're ahead of the rest of the class, as you've already been accessing your chi."

"Um sensei?"

"Yes?"

"Well, that battle aura you showed us at the start, it was red with black streaks through it. If you do it, why do you say it's dangerous?"

"What I did wasn't based on emotion, my chi was controlled so that it would only reflect certain colours. As for the black lightning effect, that's what happens when you put a dark purple with a red aura. It makes it appear darker than it really is. What I did was make a false battle aura, it's still effective but it isn't damaging to me at all."

"So you're saying you can give someone who knows about battle auras a completly wrong idea about what your emotional state is?"

"Exactly. When you're a lot more advanced than you are now, I'll show you how to do it. I'll also be showing you how to read the true aura of a person, so that you're not fooled by someone who can do what I can. Well I think that covers everything for the moment. I'll see you guys next time." She waved them to the door. The three of them bowed to her and made their way out of the dojo.

"So how do you feel?" Rio made her way over to Ranma and smiled at her.

"I feel pretty good thanks." Ranma let out a sigh of relief and let her shoulders slump. "It was kind of harder than I thought, but in some ways it was easier. Does that make any sense?"

"Oh yes. I remember when I taught my first lesson it felt really strange to be the instructor rather than the student. And I thought you said you'd never taught anyone before." Rio poked the smaller girl in the ribs gently.

"I haven't!" Ranma protested.

"Well in that case congratulations, you did a great job. The only thing I have to say is that you need to take more note of how much time you have left in the class." She smiled to take any sting out of her words. "So what do you have planned for the rest of the day?"

"Well I thought I'd get some lunch and then take a hike into the forest or maybe to those hills I saw over that way." Ranma pointed to what she thought was the North. "What about you?"

"If you do go as far as the hills you be careful, there's more out there than you know. As for me I think I'll head over to the main house and grab something to eat myself. When do you think you'll be back? We still have to talk to Nosaku-sama about Makodai, and I'd prefer to do it while it's still fresh in my mind."

"Oh sure, I nearly forgot about that. Well I should only be a few hours. I just want to stretch out a bit, I'm still not feeling too good after that boat ride to the island, the boat was too cramped for my liking. I couldn't really stretch out at all."

"Right then I'll see you at about three this afternoon then. Have a nice walk." She waved over her shoulder as she headed out the door.

Ranma smiled to herself as she headed out of the building twenty minutes later. She'd eaten a very quick lunch and then surprised the kitchen staff when she'd asked for a packed lunch to take with her on her walk.

He was feeling rather mellow as she considered how the day had gone so far. All in all, she'd had a great deal of fun, Ayu was put in her place and her students were progressing very well. Even if she did say so herself.

After another twenty minutes of brisk walking she stepped out from under the tree canopy and looked ahead at the small out cropping of rock that stood in front of her, looking like a finger pointing accusingly at the sky. She decided that she'd get a much better view from the top of that than she'd get from the ground, plus it would help her to relax. For some strange reason Ranma had always liked high places, the higher the better in his opinion. The spire of rock rose a good eighty metres into the sky, Ranmas first jump hit it at just about the quarter way mark. From there it was a matter of mere moments for her to gain the almost flat summit. Standing in the centre of the platform she turned a full circle, there to the south was the Academy builings, small with the distance she'd been able to cover. Just beyond she could make out the small town that surrounded the dock area, and could even see the bright yellow paint on one of the cranes used to unload ships. Off to her right stretched fields, gleaming a bright emerald green in the early afternoon sun, what kind of crops grew there she had no idea, that would be something she could explore later in her stay. The rain clouds that had obscured the sky on and off all day yesterday had dissapeared overnight and now the sky was an intense cerulean blue, almost a match for her eyes. Turning again she could see more outcroppings of rock to the north poking out of the forest clad hills. It didn't look as if too many people ever went that way. And turning once again she could see the same forest that she'd just walked through, it spread out even while the trees seemed to grow even larger that the giants she'd seen on her walk here.

Ranma placed the daypack she'd loaded her picnic into on the flat surgace and sat down beside it. Off in the distance the sun shimmered off the surface of the distant ocean. This far inland she couldn't hear the incessant pounding of the waves as they crashed into the islands cliff faces. In fact the only sound she could hear was the breeze as it blew, gently carresing her skin, and making her loose hair seem almost alive. The sound of tan occasional bird call, or an insect bussing as it it passed on some indeterminable task for its hive were the only other sounds she'd heard for the last half hour. Out here she felt so close to nature, as if man had never existed. There were no clues that he ever had apart from the few buildings she could see. The rood of the Academy could be seen quite clearly with its twin dragons adorning its black tile clad surface. Ranma leaned back and sipped the soda she'd just opened and sighed in relief. These first few days she'd decided she needed to take a break from her usual routine and so far it was turning out pretty good, the only fights she'd gotten into were civilized challenges. In other words she'd been given some advanced warning that they were coming, rather than the usual way of finding out just as she was avoiding the first blow. Two challenges for the week was kind of strange as far as Ranma was concerned, there was a point there where he'd been facing multiple attacks each and every day. That was until Mousse had realised that Ranma truly had no interest in Xian Pu, then they'd declared an uneasy truce while the blind boy decided if he shoulld avenge the wound to her pride that he felt was inflicted by Ranma not showing any interest in her. He'd finally come to the conclusion that no insult was intended, especially after Ranma got serious and handed him his head after a fifteen second battle. That's when Mousse began to remember all the times he'd attacked Ranma for no real reason and he'd blanched at the thought that Ranma might one day choose to act on those attacks. Xian Pu had told him what little she remembered of the battle with Saffron, and had chosen to call their battles a draw, Ranma on the other hand had had enough so that he'd let him do so without any real protest. She put the empty can back into her pack and began to eat the small snack she'd brought with her, when she paused with a sandwich half way to her mouth. She wasn't sure what had changed but something was different. Putting the food aside she stood and looked over the side, there down below she could see a figure moving, looking around and shaking his head. Then she heard the usual words of her favourite sparring partner, "Where the hell am I now?" drift up from below.

With a smirk Ranma stepped off the spire of rock and began to fall like a meteor. Half way down she screamed out, "P-CHAN! PREPARE TO DIE!" At the top of her lungs. Down below the startled face of her adversary could be seen looking up just before she struck.

A/N This took such a long time to write mainly because I had to work my way through all the chi theory. If what I've written matches up with anyone elses theory it's just a coincidence, as what I've written comes directly from me, I did no research to get facts for any of this and as far as I'm concerned what I wrote is fiction. So if you try it and it does work don't come running to me after you blow your foot off. The other reason was the fact that Ranmas first class, while written in story style still came out sounding very stiff and sounded more like a 5000 word lecture rather than some lesson you'd expect Ranma to give.

That having been said the way I rewrote it is a reflection of Cologne and Tofu Onos influence on Ranma. Both of them are much better martial artists now that Ranma has discovered where they were going wrong. I believe that both of them are natural chi users. That means that they've always done it and thus never felt the need to look for explanations into how it all works. Now they have a firm foundation to their chi manipulation they've become much more stable people. That's going to show up in later chapters and even in some of the sidestories.

I'm going to finish this story, I will not leave people wondering where I am and if I ever intend to finish it. I'm kind of pig headed that way. Plus I'm still enjoying writing it so I don't see any reason to stop now. lol. The next chapter should be out much quicker than this one was for the reason that I already laid a good portion of the next chapter out, if you read this chapter carefully you should be able to see what the next chapter is going to cover.

Ciao for now.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer:- It is not my intention at any point in time to lay claim to the rights or privileges of the owners of Ranma-chan, or his cohorts in crime. I am but a lowly fan fiction writer. Any attempt to sue me will be found to be futile, as I am very poor. If you would like to change that fact at any point in time, please, please, please; sell me rights to Ranma half for one cent US. Okay, back to reality, I suppose its back to the mines for me.

A/N Just a quick update for all you people who hate cliffhangers as much as I do. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope to hear about it from you as well. In other words review please. Lol.

Phoenix Ascension

Chapter 3F

Ryoga Hibiki had paused mid-step to take note as the scenery changed around him. It wasn't the first time it had happened that day either but it truly didn't matter as far as he was concerned. He'd get where he needed to be eventually and then Ranma Saotome would suffer for the hell that was his life. Though for effect he voiced his usual cry.

"Where the hell am I now?"

The gentle breeze brought the forest around him to life with sound as the gentle susurration of leaf against leaf filled his ears; as he walked out from underneath the forest canopy into bright sunlight. He'd barely even begun to notice the spire of rock in front of him when he heard a voice above him.

"P-CHAN! PREPARE TO DIE!"

He looked up startled to find his redheaded nemesis falling on him from a great height. Ryoga smirked to himself as he remembered his earlier thought. 'Yes, I knew I would find you Ranma!' Then he blinked and scrambled back as he considered how much power would be behind her kick when she descended the final ten metres.

"R-Ranma, what's your problem?" He straightened up into a defensive stance and waited for a reply from his rival, who'd punched into the ground with enough force to form crater two metres across and half as deep.

"Shut up pig-boy and prepare to take a beating! How dare you make Akane cry?" Ranma snarled as she looked up at him through her fringe, then she moved. Ryoga was reasonably fast when it came to combat but Ranma was proving to be even faster than the last time they faced off.

Ryoga was caught totally unprepared as he was usually the initiator of their conflicts. As unprepared as he was he still wasn't expecting much from the initial attack as Ranma was in his female form, and as such she lacked power. That assumption cost him as she drove her fingertips past his blocking arm and into his sternum causing him a great deal of pain. He blinked in confusion, the Bakusai Tenketsu was supposed to armour his body against almost any blow. Not only did it fail but the second blow under his floating rib succeeded in driving the air from his lungs, leaving him gasping for breath.

What Ryoga didn't know was that Ranma had discovered the techniques weak point several months ago; he also discovered how to apply it to the human body rather than just rocks. That became the third sealed technique of the Saotome 'Anything Goes' Ryu; after all, using Ki sight to drive a fingertip into the 'Breaking Point' of any given bone in the human skeleton was a nasty way to win a fight. Even Khu Lon had paled as she considered the consequences of having a bone explode into fragments inside of her.

Ranma smirked nastily as she considered the large number of bruises she was leaving on her adversary as she continued to pummel him. She hadn't done anything to permanently damage him but he was sure going to feel it later. The look of shock on Ryoga's face was almost enough to turn her smirk into an outright laugh, and she had to clamp down with the 'Soul of Ice' to maintain the outward appearance that she was angry with him. Ryoga was sent staggering back from yet another blow when a frantic swing of his arm managed to disrupt Ranma's attack pattern. With even a few seconds breathing space he managed to whip his belt free and infuse it with ki, the 'Iron Cloth' technique allowed him to swing the belt at Ranma like a sword.

Seeing the belt come free, the agile redhead dove under the 'blade' and rolled into a crouch close enough to drive her fist into his left knee turning it outwards while keeping her momentum and moving closer she reversed the strike to drive the elbow of the same arm into the knee opposite. Ryoga looked completely ridiculous standing there thrusting a sword forward while standing bow legged, he was also completely vulnerable to a groin strike, but Ranma refrained from that as it would end the fight too soon. She continued to roll forwards through the gap she'd created as she came back up into a crouch she placed her hands on the ground and kicked back with both feet in a mule kick to the seat of his khaki pants. Ryoga yelled in surprise as he flew through the air to come crashing down 15 feet away though he didn't stay down for long though. Rolling to his feet he grabbed a bandanna and practiced the ancient art of nekkachi-fu (1), Ranma rolled right only to straighten up behind a tree trunk as Ryoga's shuriken and several others like it raised geysers of dirt as they followed her across the clearing. The last bandanna smacked into the tree trunk with a meaty thunk. Ranma was smiling openly now, but only because her opponent couldn't see her, 'This was more like it'.

Ranma decided to step up her side of the conflict by throwing a small ki ball into the bole of the tree before her. As with the practice post in the courtyard of the Academy the ki ball punched through the tree trunk and exploded like a shaped charge causing a spray of foot long slivers of wood for Ryoga to dodge. Even as he regained his feet the rest of the tree came crashing down around him eliciting a startled yell. As the tree began to fall Ranma ran up the trunk adding to the momentum of its fall, but mainly it was in a bid to get to where she needed to be to continue the attack only to find it un-necessary. Ryoga even with his great strength didn't have enough purchase to remove the thick branch that had him pinned to the ground.

"Hey bacon bits, how you doing? You want to continue this?" Ryoga continued to struggle trying to break free of his wooden prison then he slumped back onto the ground. "I didn't think so." Ranma considered her victory, but the smile quickly vanished as she felt the bottom drop out of her emotional barometer. She quickly jumped back several metres as a large ball of depressed ki vaporised the section of trunk she'd been standing on. Ryoga staggered weakly to his feet as the weight of the tree suddenly left him, only to be sent slamming back to the ground 10 m away from what would have been ground zero of Ryoga's 'Shi Shi Hokoudan', if Ranma hadn't of thrown a stream of positive ki after it. Ranma was forced to intensify her efforts a second later as the heavy ki began its descent, slowly, ever so slowly the dark green ki began to boil away as Ranma increased the pressure against it yet again.

Ryoga watched in amazed fascination as his most powerful attack was neutralised with the greatest of ease. He struggled to his feet yet again and stood swaying like a tree in a high gale. Truth be told, he felt like he'd been drained by Hinako Ninomiya. He looked up to find himself on the receiving end of a death glare.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Are you trying to kill me or something?"

"The thought had crossed my mind a few times!" Ryoga broke into a staggering run as he tried to close the distance between them.

"So you still want to play?" Ranma decided it was time is time to show his opponent just how strong he really was since the incident with Saffron. "So you want to play? Let's play, try to keep up now P-chan." With that Ranma released the limiters he'd placed on his reservoir of ki, cycling pure ki, her aura built at an incredible rate as she brought as many chakra online as she could. The first, and the one she considered the most important pushed her aura out five or so feet from her body, grass and small plants vanished in a flash of super-heated ash. Then she brought online the second chakra, her heart burned with a flame of unbridled power, using it like a magnifying glass the external aura condensed to half its original size, but Ryoga could feel that the amount of power involved had more than quadrupled. When the third chakra in Ranma's mind came forward it took all of Ryoga's willpower to stand still and not run away, as fingers of ki lanced out all around, touching, and tasting their surroundings. A probe touched Ryoga and he flinched as it pulled back as if afraid of being poisoned. The power being produced had doubled yet again, and Ranma was still determined to bring more chakra into the fray. "You want a piece of me! Do you? Well here I am Ryoga, come and get me! I'll even stand still for you." The ground under her disappeared as the fourth and final chakra that she could control came on line leaving Ranma floating in the air. If such things could be measured by science they would have discovered that he was producing almost double the energy that Saffron was able to produce just before he tried to ascend. Ryoga didn't need them to tell him anything, regardless of all the chasing he'd done, Ranma had managed to move so far past his level that to even try to compare them would be ridiculous. Ryoga felt the will to continue fighting ebb away, and with it his ability to stand. He collapsed from a vertical position to flat on his back without even attempting to break his fall, his eyes rolled back into his head as he gave up the fight for consciousness.

"Kami, you're a stubborn idiot Ryoga! Too tired to fight, but you just don't know when to quit do you." Ranma relaxed and the power flowing through her veins began to sputter as her badly overloaded chakra cycled down like some kind of massive generators turbine just without the whine. Well unless she was really tired and then she'd whine all she wanted to. Even with slowing the generation of ki back to normal her reservoirs were still full to the brim so much so that she didn't even notice when she began to float for her fallen opponent. Ranma honestly believed he was walking, and so he was which was why it looked particularly stupid to be several inches above the ground.

Closing the distance she tried to figure out the easiest way to carry her friend back to the Academy, thinking it through thoroughly she decided that it would be easier to carry ten kilograms of pork than it would be to carry one hundred and twenty kilograms of 'long pig' (2), especially as she had to carry his pack as well. With Ranma thought and action are often intertwined; he made a dashing run for the nearby rock face and headed for her pack. Returning half a minute later she opened a can of soda and tipped it over Ryoga's head, then stared in puzzlement as he failed to change.

"Oh crud! How could I forget that? Damn wards, now I've got to carry him."

-Back in Tokyo-

Khu Lon looked up from the pot of ramen she was stirring and stared to the South. The restaurant had been closed for several days, since both Xian Pu and Mousse had disappeared chasing what she knew to be a false trail. 'Oh the folly of youth. Where did I fail, I've tried to show her so many times how to use that mind of hers and still she refuses to learn. And as for Mousse...' She glanced over at the clock and then pogoed over to the phone just as it started to ring.

"Good afternoon, Nekohanten, Khu Lon speaking how may I help you?"

"Good afternoon Elder, it is I, Mousse."

"I know that, who else would it be with all our regulars knowing that we have been closed the last three days?"

"I'm sorry Elder but you told me I had to follow her." Mousse sounded frustrated, he wasn't one to take the blame when it didn't along with him.

"So I did, and so you did. It's time to come home now; both you and I know you're on a fool's errand."

"You think I don't know that? I'd come back in a second but Xian Pu won't listen to reason."

"Then make her!"

"Don't you think I've tried that old mummy?"

"You'll respect me boy!"

"Or you'll what? I'm a long way away now old ghoul."

"Not nearly far enough Mousse, nowhere near far enough." Khu Lon chuckled to herself. "Stay where you are, then, I'll come and get you."

"Ooh, I'm shaking in my kung fu slippers!" He tried to make the snicker in his voice sound like a tremulous quaver of fear.

"Just remember to stay where you are. Oh and Mousse..." She smiled an evil smile as she took the receiver away from her ear and placed her fingers against the mouthpiece.

"Yes Elder Khu Lon?" He waited patiently for the next words but all he could hear was the sound of static getting rapidly louder. On the other end of the line the Matriarch finished sending a condensed pulse of chi through her handset, and managed to get it back to her ear just in time to allow her to hear a loud boom, that was abruptly cut off as Mousse was thrown through the side of the phone box taking the handset with him.

"That'll teach the young fool to respect his Elders. Who knew that a phone line could conduct chi that well?" Khu Lon spent the next ten minutes alternating between stirring her lunch and laughing herself silly. She wasn't sure which was the more nourishing for her soul, laughter or food, in the end she decided they held equal import.

"Oh Ranma, you've moved so far in your studies. You are almost hy7beyond me now. I may have a few things still to teach you, but they will only make things a little easier for you. Such power, once I feared Saffron for this very reason. Why is it that I feel no fear when I consider you, who are even more powerful than 'The Phoenix'?"

-Kanakita island-

Ranma made his way across the playing fields at the rear of the Academy, just a baseball diamond and some soccer pitches to go then she could lay this burden down. That brought to mind the lyrics of a song, something by the Eurhythmics she thought, ah well it's catchy enough, as she hummed a few bars of it. Ryoga didn't really weigh that much it was more a matter of the pack he carried, she hadn't checked it but it felt like he was carrying half a ton of lead in there.

She looked back towards the building in time to see a large group of boys leaving the back entrance, wearing what appeared to be some kind of sports kit. Several of them were kicking balls around as they made their way over towards one of the playing fields. Then the crowd stopped as one of them pointed towards her and shouted out to get their attention. Some of them broke off and made their way over to her, thoughts of soccer taking second place to what ever was happening with the gorgeous girl carrying both a large pack and an unconscious man.

"You alright miss?" The self nominated leader of the group asked as they came up to her.

"Sure, I'm fine; it's this lug that needs to spend some time in the infirmary. Do you think some of you could carry him there for me, he can't be comfortable where he is?"

"Hey aren't you that girl who beat Ayu Dekisugi in the challenge match this morning?"

"That's me." Ranma smiled as they started to murmur amongst themselves.

"You want me to take the pack for you as well?"

"Nah, don't get me wrong but the packs a little heavy." The boy frowned as he felt she, a mere girl were questioning his strength.

"You sure, if it's as heavy as you say you might be better leaving it to me."

Ranma smirked lightly, "Well if you insist." She went to pass over the pack and gently lowered it to the ground as he attempted to take up the slack.

"Christ! What's in this thing?"

"Oh about half a ton of lead or something, but Ryoga here takes his weight training very seriously. Of course he'd do better against me if he'd remember to take it off when we start fighting." She smiled at the stunned boys that were crowding around her. Two of them grabbed Ryoga by the arms and pulled him up into a chair carry and proceeded off towards the Academy.

"Make sure someone stays with him, he's the only person I know who can get lost getting out of bed."

"You're joking right?" His chuckle died as he realized the red-head was serious.

"Yeah, I'll bet he wishes I was." She pointed off towards the rapidly diminishing form of Ryoga and the boys set to carry him. "Um I'm just going to leave his pack by the back door there, can you make sure he knows where it is if he wakes up before I manage to see him?"

"Okay, I'll let the others know as well, that way one of us is sure to remember."

"Thanks." Ranma walked away still humming to herself. The day just seemed to get better and better. She pushed through the rear entrance to the Academy and made her way up the stairs to the cafeteria level to grab a light snack before making her way to Rio's office.

'Knock, Knock'

"Come in, the doors open!"

Ranma walked into the room to find Rio bent over a low filing cabinet draw. He decided to himself that even if she was ten years older than him she was still a fine figure of a woman, and she was doing things to his libido that hadn't happened for years. With no one to threaten to pound him into the ground or take advantage of his naivety he could grow to like being around women again. Not that he was a pervert or anything, but he was definitely male, or at least could be considered a lesbian in this form.

"Hi Rio, what'cha doing?"

"I was just looking for some files for Nosaku. I asked to see him earlier so he asked if I could bring them over." She looked over her shoulder in time to see Ranma manage to wipe the silly grin off her face.

"So when do you want to head over there?"

"I've just got one more file to find and then we can go." She slid the draw she was working in closed and opened up another. "So did you enjoy your walk?"

"You could say that, I found this rock that sticks straight up. I spent some time up there looking around and then I met an old friend of mine who pops up every now and then. We had a good sparring session and then he used all his ki in a final attack. Didn't work, he should have known better. Usually I just let it come back down and weather the effects, but this time I helped it on its way so to speak. Part of the technique he used is to draw some of the ki wasted in the attack back into your body so that you aren't as weak as a new born. You should have seen the look on his face when he realized it wasn't coming back down." Ranma laughed as she remembered his expression.

"So where is he?"

"Some of the boys took him to the infirmary."

"Why? Was he hurt?"

"Nah, not more than his pride anyway. He just used up all his reserves in trying to continue the fight when he should have known to stay down. If he sleeps for a couple of hours he should be strong enough to answer a few questions. You got that file yet?"

"Uh-huh, just let me grab these and we can go." They made small talk as they headed over to the main house. Mainly they talked about the lesson he'd given earlier.

"I noticed something as I was practicing that breathing technique earlier."

"What's that?"

"Well I'm not sure but I could have sworn I saw, I'm not sure how to describe it. I was looking at some of the students and I thought I could see…"

"Sounds to me like you've got basic Ki sight. You're not really seeing very at all, but what you are seeing is the start of their aura. It'll be faint for the first few days but once they get used to it, they'll feel its effects more and more."

"Like what?"

"Well I wasn't going to cover this yet but since you asked. First thing that'll happen is that your autonomous systems will start to process materials faster. That means the lungs will process more oxygen, the stomach will extract more nutrients. You get the idea. That means you're probably going to eat more than usual, I'd eat more protein if I were you, you're going to need it when you start working the physical fitness regime I have for you guys."

"You mean I'm going to get fat?" She mock growled at the young woman walking beside her.

"No, you won't get fat, but you will get heavier. Don't sweat it though, that's just what happens when your muscles increase in density."

"Oh no! That's worse than getting fat! I'm going to look like one of those bodybuilders." Rio shuddered theatrically.

"I don't think so, or at least not for a long time. Do I look like a bodybuilder to you?" Ranma stuck her chest out a little.

"Well you could use those to rest the weights on." Rio motioned towards Ranma's impressive attributes.

"Hey! That's not funny!" She crossed her arms under her breasts and glared at the departing back of the Academies dorm manager.

"Okay, I'm sorry; I was just having a little fun." Rio slowed down and turned around to face Ranma, she continued to walk backwards as the tiny martial artist closed the gap.

"Yeah well, I'm not real happy about this being stuck in my girl form. I know there're billions of girls out there stuck in this form too, but they started off this way. Me I kind of got drafted and I don't always handle it very well."

"You seem to do alright as far as I can see."

"At the moment, but just you wait 'til I've got PMS, then you won't find it quite that funny."

"You wouldn't hurt anyone would you?"

"I don't really know, I haven't so far. It's just that I don't have the best control in the world when I'm in that condition, the other problem is that when I'm emotional my ki becomes unstable and I could easily end up blowing something up.

"Now I know you're joking." Rio's smile died as she saw the serious look in Ranma's eyes.

"It scares me sometimes Rio. Do you have any idea of how strong I am? I didn't think so; my last opponent was three times stronger than me. How I beat him I don't know, maybe my will to win was stronger. Maybe I just got pigheaded about it. During our fight, he caused the mountain we were fighting on to crumble like a cookie. When I say mountain, I'm talking about a peak that was nearly two kilometres tall. I'm stronger now than he was then. That terrifies me; just the thought of letting go in the middle of a large city gives me nightmares. Then on top of that I've got the Neko-ken, you know anything about that? That's where we get into serious power, there aren't any restraints, and I don't have any control of it at all. If someone made me angry while I was like that I wouldn't even remember if I killed him or not."

"I seem to remember someone saying 'With great power comes great responsibility'."

"They also say, 'Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely'. Of course the only way that can happen is if I start to see things in black and white. Personally I like all kinds of shades of grey." Rio noticed for the first time that Ranma's eyes changed hue slightly as her mood changed, when she was angry they became icy blue that remained flat and lifeless, when she truly smiled, they became the most intense shade of indigo and almost sparkled like a gem. At the moment they were somewhere in the middle, until a sudden thought struck Ranma. She smirked, "You wanna know the funny thing?"

Rio nodded, "Go ahead, what's so funny."

"Well I'm regular as clockwork, and if that holds true, then Makodai's going to have a real bad day next week."

"You mean?"

"Oh yeah, a couple of days of PMS, with a challenge match smack bang in the middle of it." Ranma started to laugh so hard she had to hold her sides, it was either laugh or cry, and Ranma Saotome don't cry.

"Well you two certainly sound happy." Nosaku walked down the steps from the engawa as they approached. He looked at Ranma with a little concern on his face. "Are you alright Ranma?"

"Just peachy thanks Nosaku-sama. I just found out that the guy who challenged me to a duel next week may need a hearse by time I finish with him."

Nosaku seemed a little startled by that declaration so he looked to follow Rio-chan's lead.

"It's going to be that time of the month, Nosaku." Being a semi-intelligent male he decided that honour was the better part of valour and kept his mouth shut. "Maybe we should talk to Makodai and get him to re-schedule the match?"

"I wish it were that simple Rio-chan. Makodai has made it a matter of public record that the challenge is to go ahead no matter what. He won't accept any excuses, and I know how pig-headed he can be."

"Great, just what I need. Why is it all the idiots feel the need to challenge me? Do I have a sign painted on my back that says to kick me? What's his problem anyway, if I understood that I'd at least know how serious he was?"

"I'm afraid, Ranma that he's very serious. You see about twenty years ago….."

"What did my Pops do to him?" The redhead sighed in resignation; this was the story of her life.

"Um, nothing, we didn't even know of your father back then. No this is something to do with your mother. It goes back even further than that, but around twenty years ago is where you're family comes into it personally."

"Oh great, it ain't enough that I've got the sins of the father coming back to haunt me. Okay, get it over with, what did mom do?"

"Let's take a walk in the garden while I explain it to you." He gestured to a path made of crushed white marble. "To understand it you'd have to know that Makodai came late to the art. I suppose he was sixteen or so when he started, at the time none of his friends would take him seriously, not without him knowing some form of martial arts. So he took up the art, but things didn't go well; when he started he was teased incessantly by the other students, which drove him on even harder. He passed out of basics in under a year, vowing that he would become the best; he began a quest to learn all he could. He pushed himself day and night to the exclusion of almost everything else. When he turned eighteen he entered what tournaments he was deemed eligible for at the time, which wasn't much as he'd only been learning for two years at that time. We thought he was serious before that, but afterwards it was as if a flame of ambition had been lit inside him. He drove himself into the hospital on a number of occasions after that, but he always came back stronger. After six years he finally was allowed to enter the 'Open, open, unrestricted' category of competition. He was twenty-four, though this time people knew better than to mock him for his age. People watched in stunned silence as he was knocked around in his first match, he nearly failed, but then he got lucky and managed to land a solid blow that stunned his opponent. It was all downhill from there; he won his next match also. It was in the third round that he met the runner up from the year before and was sent crashing out of the competition. He entered the competition for thirteen years running, and in the thirteenth he finally won against heavy odds, while suffering great damage, but he won. He changed for the better that day; he lightened up and came close to being the boy I once knew. This is where your mother comes in. She was a total contrast to Makodai, she started almost as young as you did, and she had a similar ability to yours, not quite as strong I'd say, but still she was formidable. She entered all the competitions she was able to, as soon as she qualified for them, and gave a good account of herself across the board, by the time she reached eighteen she'd won the 'Under eighteen, open gender, unrestricted style' title three times in a row. Quite an accomplishment I might add; the only person to do so in the history of the clan. Needless to say this didn't sit too well with Makodai and he set about undermining Nodoka at every chance he got. It didn't work the way he wanted though, your mother took offence at his slurs and started to really push herself, which was when the clan realized that she'd been coasting since childhood. She met Makodai in the finals of the 'Open, open, unrestricted' competition and proceeded to mop the floor with the older, much more experienced fighter. When she walked from the ring she left Makodai to crawl. He turned bitter again after that, and the child I'd known disappeared never to be seen again. They met again the next year, and the one after that, and always the result was the same. Your mother walked from the ring and Makodai crawled. She never said a word about their fights, but you could see it in her eyes. She continued to rub salt into his wounds. Where he was power incarnate, she was speed and agility, don't get me wrong, she was strong as well, but in comparison Makodai was much the stronger. She took to training a class near his, where she emphasized speed and agility, he'd often hear her say, 'It doesn't matter how strong you are, if you can't hit your opponent you might as well give up before she starts hitting you.' At that point I had to step in; I could see the clan drawing battle lines. Many would follow Makodai because he was male and the traditional leader. On the other hand the young of the clan were happy to take your mothers side against the established order. I didn't want to face an internal civil war, one in which there would be bloodshed. You see we don't train to be martial artists alone; we are warriors, we are samurai. The fire of conflict burns in our veins, and where there is a fight we will not turn our backs. I had to stop them, for the good of the clan; I had to send one of them away. So I arranged a marriage for your mother, and shortly after that she moved to Tokyo. To be fair I also arranged the marriage of Makodai to Mitsume Fugiwara. It seems that both my choices of partner for my family were doomed to failure, Genma turned out to not be the man I had thought he was, and Makodai remained cold and harsh with Mitsume. A year passed and you were conceived and my grand-daughter was happy. It took longer for Makodai's union to bear fruit but a couple of years later Koji was conceived. When he was born, Mitsume could take no more of her husband; she dissolved the marriage and returned to her family, leaving Makodai with his heir and the shame of being divorced. He hasn't changed in all the time since your mother left the island, except that he pushed his son into the art as young as he was allowed to by the instructors. As I told you yesterday, Koji proved indifferent to his father's ambition, and doesn't even try anymore. Makodai knows who your mother is, the whole clan does. That is the reason he wishes to face you in the ring, he wishes to prove he's better than your mother by proving he's better than you."

"Then he's a fool Nosaku-sama. I ain't gonna take it easy on him just cause he's had a hard time of it. My life ain't exactly been a bed of roses either." If the flagstone she was staring at had been sentient it would already have been trying to figure out a way to escape the diminutive redhead. As it was it sat there in total indifference to the turmoil that showed in her face.

"Hmm, maybe." He paused for a moment to redirect his thoughts. "On a totally different subject, how was your lesson today? Did you enjoy yourself?"

Ranma shrugged her bad mood to the side as she pondered how best to answer the clan leader. "Yeah, I think I really did. It's hard for me to describe, it feels so good to pass on what I know. My only fear is that someone will misuse what I teach them."

"That is always a danger Ranma, there is nothing anyone can do to ensure that it never happens. Though we try very hard to make sure that it doesn't happen very often. Oh and by the way I have some good news for you. I opened an account for you at the Bank of Kanakita."

"Huh? Why would you do that? I don't have anything to put in it."

"What, you don't think I expect you to teach a class of students for nothing do you?" Nosaku looked offended but the colour of his aura and the twinkle in his eye betrayed him to Ranma.

"Really? No ones ever given me anything like this before." The expression on Ranma's face said she was extremely puzzled then she sighed. "You might as well send it to the Tendo dojo, care of Nabiki. If I know her she'll end up with it anyway."

"Oh no, this is just for you. By the way you haven't even asked how much."

"Alright I'll bite, how much?"

"Well Rio how many students were in Ranma's class?"

"Well including myself, there were twenty nine of us."

"Hmm, so twenty eight altogether, you don't count this time Rio, as you were teaching Ranma as well. So that's twenty eight students at ¥1000 (3) making a total of ¥28,000. Don't look so surprised Ranma, the subject you are teaching is highly valuable to this clan and I am willing to pay accordingly. That amount is per class taught by the way, not by the subject."

"How come I don't get payed that well Nosaku?" Rio pouted at her clan leader; her tone of voice was playful and let Ranma know that she wasn't truly offended that he was getting better pay than she was.

"Well when you know about something as important to the clan I shall of course raise your pay to reflect your abilities." Nosaku smiled benevolently at his grand-daughter then dodged to the side as she attempted to kick him in the shin.

"What do I do with it? I've never had that kind of money before."

"Well that's entirely up to you Ranma, you can spend it on anything you like, or you can save it for a rainy day. If you're wise you'll do a little of both. I don't know, maybe you could use it to start a hobby, or maybe even many hobbies until you find one you like. As I say the possibilities are endless, and it's all your choice Ranma."

"Oh, come on Nosaku-san, I'm supposed to be here to find answers, not get given more questions."

"Ah but the answering of these questions will help you. At the moment all the questions you are asking yourself are big scary questions. In some ways they're too big to be taken on in one bite. By answering all these little questions I'm posing for you, you give yourself a framework upon which to build the answers to the big questions. Does that make sense?"

"Kind of."

"Put it this way, when you first started martial arts you didn't attempt to break rocks with your bare hands did you?"

"Nah, don't be silly, pops always said you should use your head." Ranma laughed at the look of shock on Nosaku and Rio's faces.

"You're not serious?"

"No, I'm not, but with my pops you never know do you?"

"True, but the point I was trying to make was that in anything where the goal is so large you should break it down so that the goals are not so daunting."

"I see what you mean; it's like the way I teach. There's no point asking my students to produce ki-balls to throw around until they've mastered the basics.

"That's exactly my point Ranma. Hmm, I have another present for you, but I'm not sure how you'll take it. You see one of the things I've learned is that I can't remember everything that happens to me. So to try and stop that from becoming a problem I write the important things down in my journals."

"That's like a diary ain't it?"

"Well yes, I suppose it is."

"No way I ain't doing anything that girly!" Ranma flexed her fingers and then crossed her arms in an attempt to hold her emotions in check.

"Look at me Ranma. Would you say that I'm girly?" Nosaku was frowning slightly at the young person across the clearing from him.

Ranma stopped in her tracks as she realized she'd just offended the clan leader of the Itsunagi. "No! I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that, it's just that…..Pops, damn I hate him sometimes; he put all these ideas in my head and now I find I spout them back at people. Even if I know he's full of it."

"Don't worry about it too much Ranma, at least you realize he's 'full of it'. Many children never discover just how hypocritical their parents can be. I mean I was raised with certain expectations, it was only after my father died that I learned from his journals that many of the mistakes he condemned me for making were ones he'd made in his youth. In his defence I know he hoped I wouldn't make them so I could avoid the pain he'd felt; but still it didn't help that he never explained that while he was still alive."

"Alright I'll think about it, but if it's pink with sparkly bits on it, I'm warning you, it'll go in the nearest incinerator." It really didn't help Ranma's mood that Rio was giggling hysterically in the background.

"I assure you Ranma it's the same style of journal that I use. And I wouldn't be seen dead with one of those diaries that young teenage girls seem so fond of either. Okay?"

"Yeah okay, I still don't like it, but if you think it's a good idea I suppose I'll give it a shot."

"That's the spirit, now as to what you put in it, that's entirely up to you. If you'll take some advice from me though. Start with the things that happened to you today, and then think about how you felt while these things were happening. Don't worry if you think it's embarrassing as you're the only one who'll ever read it, unless you choose to show it to someone. Then when you start to meditate on your life you can put down any observations you've made. Try to draw parallels, let your mind wonder and see what comes up. Something you write may remind you of something else that's happened to you." Ranma looked dubious at all the information he was supposed to write down.

"Right, well I suppose I'll come by later and pick it up. At the moment I've got an old friend to deal with."

"Oh and who would that be." Rio rejoined the conversation.

"His name's Ryoga, he's one of the top martial artists in Nerima, when he isn't lost somewhere that is."

"Ah so he'd the lost boy you were talking about yesterday?"

"That's him, but I told Rio a little about him today as well. Remember I was telling the class that emotions were a bad thing where ki is concerned? Well Ryoga is the one who uses depression ki. I'm hoping he can hang around long enough for me to help him with that."

"Do you think that's wise Ranma?" Rio sounded concerned, this Ryoga fellow sounded dangerous as far as she was concerned.

"Doesn't matter if it is or ain't; I owe him a couple of debts, and I can't think of a better way to repay them than to make sure he lives to make it to thirty. You didn't see him today; he pulled off a Shi Shi Hokoudan without any strain on him whatsoever. That sounds pretty impressive yeah? Well there's enough depression ki in one of those to level most of the Academy and maybe the main house here as well. I'd rather he learns to use another focus for his attacks, at least that way he'll have better control over his power."

"How do you plan to help him? If he hates you as much as you seem to think he's hardly going to listen to you."

"First off I've got to shock him out of his normal responses. Akane gave me all the ammunition I need for that. After I've got his attention I'll have to help him purify the ki that he generates while cycling his ki as much as possible."

"What do you mean Ranma, how do you cycle ki?"

"You remember I showed you my battle aura? Well it's something like that; I'll get him to produce an aura using pure ki, then while he siphons power into it the pure ki he continues to generate will begin to wash the depression ki tainting his system away. The longer I can get him to do it the easier it'll get for him. I don't know if it'll work the way I plan but I hope it does for his sake."

"Is that what you're going to do with the three students you pulled aside earlier?"

"Yeah that's right, but with them it'll be much easier and quicker as they were just starting to use their ki. With Ryoga I'm probably gonna have to beat him down on a regular basis until he gets the idea that I'm trying to help him. I also have some news for him that should make him happy; while he's here on Kanakita his curse is locked. He's gonna flip when he realizes that his curse could be locked away for up to six months after he leaves. You did say the ward stones locked magic for that long didn't you Nosaku?"

"That's correct Ranma, anywhere from two to six months. If he's as depressive as you seem to think he is I'd err on the side of caution and tell him it'll only be locked for the two months, that way any longer than that and it'll make him happy. Am I right?"

"Yeah, that's a real good idea. Well I'd better go and have a talk with him; since he drained off all his depression ki he might even be prepared to listen to me first." Ranma smiled as she thought about the odds of that happening. "I'll see you guys later."

A/N

That's it for today; I think I did pretty good to get this out in just three days. I didn't really start to write it until yesterday, shortly after I brought a copy of word 2003. I hope it turns out better than the last chapter I wrote where everyone complained about the mess I made of the last part of the chapter. Next chapter the meeting with Ryoga, Yumi and some friends decide Ranma's led a sheltered childhood and want to teach 'her' a few things (Nothing hentai by the way. Hey you in the back row stop whining, this fanfic only has a T rating.), and of course the journal entry (that will allow me to leap small sections of time with a logical bound.) Chapter 3 with all its parts is about 40K words long so far and it's only going to get longer; so I have to try to do something to speed it up. It covers about four months in total, so you can see if I keep going the way I am this chapter could be a couple of million words long before I finish it, and that's only a mild exaggeration. I'm hoping that the journal entries are going to address the problem for me by allowing me to cover only the high points in the chapter and then gloss over the mundane day to day stuff in the Journal, once you've seen it once. The journal will also let me and by extension you the reader explore what Ranma thinks and feels about certain things. I can also use it to give back filler information about his life without actually having to do a flashback.

I was going to have a journal entry at the end of this chapter, but since he hasn't been given it yet, well he can't write in it can he?

Some people are going to complain that I've made Ranma too godlike in his powers. Trust me on this, he ain't there yet, and he's going to need every skerrick of power he can get his hands on when it comes to facing the 'Big Boss' in this story . If you find it really offensive I apologize, but promise that it's only going to get worse before the end. You'll find out what the enemy is if you read 'Dragon Descending', it's the kind of power that made a real God tremble in his boots(Well not quite, but He certainly knew He was no match for it.)

The weakness of the 'Bakusai Tenketsu' is that it is only truly effective against blunt instruments, such as fists. That's why the training involves the victim, uh, ahem, trainee having boulders thrown at them until they toughen up. The attack component of the technique proves to be the weak point of the technique as the person is still vulnerable to small area attacks such as finger strikes, and sharp edged weapons, pointy things are also considered highly dangerous. Uh-oh it seems Khu Lon failed to explain a few things when she was training Ryoga.

(1) Nekkachifu is the Japanese word for bandanna or neckerchief so nekkachi-fu is a play on words along the lines of the 'Cat-fu'. You can decide if it's a good one or not but I like it. I wonder if that's where Rumiko Takahashi got the idea from.

(2) Where were you when they released 'Pirates of the Caribbean" part 2? Long pig is what the natives of several Pacific islands called men they intended to eat. In other words they were cannibals.

(3) ¥1000 is roughly equivalent to $10 US or $14 AUS, this kind of fee per student sounds about right and it's certainly not excessive.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer:- It is not my intention at any point in time to lay claim to the rights or privileges of the owners of Ranma-chan, or his cohorts in crime. I am but a lowly fan fiction writer. Any attempt to sue me will be found to be futile, as I am very poor. If you would like to change that fact at any point in time, please, please, please; sell me rights to Ranma half for one cent US. Okay, back to reality, I suppose its back to the mines for me.

Phoenix Ascension

Chapter 3G

Ranma's day had finally taken a turn for the strange; she'd come to the infirmary to check on Ryoga and have a little chat with him. What she got was an irate nurse glaring at her.

"It's you! So how many people do you intend to put in here today?" The nurse moved to def-con 3 as her hands went to her hips and her foot began to tap on the white tiled floor.

"Huh?" Ranma as eloquent as ever when confronted with an angry woman could only stare as the nurse began to wind herself up.

"First that poor Dekisugi girl, and now this young gentleman! You should be ashamed of yourself."

Now Ranma was totally lost; this girl obviously didn't have a real firm grip on reality. "Uh! Are you talking about Ayu Dekisugi, and him?" She gestured at the recumbent form of her sometimes friend more often rival.

"I don't know, girls these days; what's the world coming to? Ranma blinked a few times at the nurse who looked to be a couple of years older than her, and then began to wonder whether she'd stepped into the twilight zone. Not that the old show had freaked him out when he'd watched it, it was probably the fact that a show that was supposed to stretch the bounds of reality seemed to be perfectly normal to Ranma. In fact Nerima made the old American show seem tame in comparison.

Ranma's eye began to twitch as she ran over the things the woman was saying. Girls! 'Who the hell does she think she is?' She barely restrained herself from shouting out her normal cry at being mistaken for a girl, 'I'm a guy, God damn it!' As it was she returned glare for glare with the auburn haired woman who'd accused her.

"Oh yeah, I can see why you'd be taking that attitude. I mean Ayu's such a nice girl. I hear she only beat up four other girls; one of whom had to be sent home because of her injuries. Yeah breaking bones seems to be par for the course for her and as for me challenging her; why would I do that? No you're right, I should have let her hit me with that knife she threw at me; that way the other people in the way wouldn't have had to worry about it, cause it'd be stuck in me!" Ranma's voice began to rise as she continued her rant. She didn't feel the need to explain that it'd only been a butter knife, even if it could still hurt someone; it was the principle of the thing. "Oh yeah stupid me, that'd make everything better. As for him," she pointed her thumb towards Ryoga, "Of course he's a perfect gentleman!" She sneered to add emphasis to her words. "My mistake, and here I always thought that his favourite greeting when he sees me is 'Ranma prepare to die!' Usually just before he attacks me with lethal intent, and it doesn't seem to worry him that innocent bystanders are in the line of fire, or within the area of effect for his ki attacks." By this time Ranma was almost nose to nose with the furiously blushing nurse.

"Don't you dare judge me! You don't know anything about me!" Ranma seethed with agitation the edge of a flame red aura just starting to form around her but then with the suddenness of a lightning strike emotion just seemed to disappear, then the temperature fell in the room as she tried to pull her temper back into check. "So do you have anything else you'd like to say to me?" Her tone of voice had turned almost as frigid as the air surrounding her.

"Um, er, that is, n-no, er, oh! Would you look at the time, I have to take a break. You'll be fine here by yourself?" The nurse managed to squeak all that out in almost the one breath as she pointed at a wall behind Ranma. By the time she'd turned back from checking the non-existent clock the nurse had already fled the room. Without the source of her ire Ranma's temper returned to normal in quick order as did the room temperature as the air conditioner vent continued to pump hot air into the room in an effort to counteract the effects of the 'Soul of Ice'.

Hold on that's not the strange bit, attractive young women accusing Ranma of unspecified crimes against humanity is not even partially uncommon in Ranma's world. No what was weird were the series of events that were about to unfold.

"Ah well, suppose I'd better do what I came here for; check and see if old P-chan is alright, then have that little chat with him." She walked over to the bed and leant over to check him more closely. When she was surprised by a loud snore.

"Geez Ryoga, you even sound like a pig when you sleep!"

"'No'ra pig!" He mumbled as he slept on peacefully.

"No maybe not, not for a little while at least." Ranma watched puzzled as his mouth began to twitch before turning into a…no it wasn't his usual smirk or sneer. It seemed to be a genuine smile, something she'd seen on his face only once or twice in the entire time she'd known him. She just had to lean in closer to make sure, then let out a startled gasp as the smile brightened just before his arms closed around her like a bear trap.

-Elsewhere-

Ryoga was in the midst of a grand dream, the kind of dream that you want to be reality, or at least go on forever.

The sky above was ominously grey, yet the rain they promised was refusing to fall. But that didn't matter to Ryoga because he'd been promised a cure for the curse if he could defeat his worst nemesis in honourable combat. Now after an epic battle he had done just that. Ranma lay in a twitching heap at his feet, groaning occasionally. Ryoga stood triumphantly with his foot in the small of his opponents back, Ranma wasn't running away this time. He'd have to accept his defeat like a man or what ever.

On the sidelines Akane watched as her favourite champion trounced her evil fiancé, her bosom heaving in excitement and her eyes sparkling in hope as she began to move across the field of combat. When she reached the half way point she could stand it no longer and rushed the rest of the way with her arms thrown wide. Ryoga plucked her leaping form from the air and crushed her to his chest in a loving embrace. She snuggled into his chest then looked up at him with adoring eyes.

"Oh Ryoga! I love you. Now that you've defeated that sex changing freak who was my fiancé we can be married."

"I love you too Akane." Then at the sheer pleasure of being able to hold her in his arms he nuzzled the crook of her neck and breathed on the sensitive flesh below Akane's earlobe, just to feel the shiver course through her body at his touch.

"Ryoga!" She whispered in an impassioned voice.

Emboldened by her plea his hand began to rove, stroking the nape of her neck and massaging her shoulders, then lower down her spine and stroking her sides finding as many of the sensitive places as he could find.

"Ryoga!" Her voice sounded hoarse with the desire he knew she held for him.

His hands continued downwards following the dip in her waist; sensitizing the flesh that he touched then with the blood rushing through his veins his hand cupped her buttock and pulled her against himself. He was getting closer to heaven by the moment, in fact he was going to suggest that they find somewhere more private to continue their tête-à-tête when some lowlife snuck up on the unsuspecting couple and blew an air-horn in his ear.

-Back with Ranma-

Ranma was startled when the sleeping Ryoga's arms closed around her. She became even more nervous when she struggled against his restraining arms and found that she couldn't move. She'd heard somewhere that it wasn't good to startle someone who was sleeping soundly so she queried gently.

"Uh Ryoga?" For some reason his smile grew even brighter.

"Luv you too 'Kane." He mumbled sleepily. Then he did something that had never been done to Ranma before, he nuzzled the side of her neck. At first it kind of tickled, and Ranma was starting to get ready to hit him; but then he breathed on the area that he'd just sensitized and the whole experience changed. Where before it had tickled now it became an electric kind of feeling and her whole body went on alert. Not really understanding it at all Ranma tried to wake her captor again.

"Ryoga!" She whispered fiercely in his ear as his hand began to stroke her neck and shoulders, where before there had been a mild tingling now there was a low flame, his hand a burning brand that set little brush fires in its wake.

"Ryoga!" Her voice went a little hoarse as he evoked unknown emotion with his wandering hand. Now the flames were spreading without his aid; when he shifted his weight a little her breasts became heavy as the sensation spread, her nipples tightened and seemed to be giving off intense little sparks that he could now recognize as pleasure. It was when Ryoga's hand cupped her bottom and pulled her in tight to his body that everything clicked. 'Oh no! There's no way he's pressing that up against me! That does it, he wakes up whether he's ready or not!'

"RYOGA!" Ranma yelled in Ryoga's ear with her ki enhanced voice.

Ryoga woke almost instantly; first he tried to sit up even as he tried to twist away from the source of the noise. Secondly he got rid of the warm body he'd been holding; 'Hold up! What warm body?'

Ranma tried to compensate but Ryoga sat up so quickly that she was thrown into the air; flipping over she came to rest just short of the nurse's station, then watched wide eyed as Ryoga threw himself out of the bed sideways to get away from the sound of her voice. He watched with no small satisfaction as P-chan kissed the floor tiles as he continued to roll with the force of his movement coming to rest with his back to the wall and his eyes latched onto the angry form of his nemesis.

"Uh, hi Ranma. What's up with you?" He looked up into the furiously blushing face of his seething rival. Then he twitched as he remembered the warm body he'd thrown from his arms, 'That was Ranma? What the hell's he upset about? Unless he wanted me to…..ewww!' Adding two and two he came up with at least ten reasons why this was all Ranma's fault. Then just to make sure….

"I don't know what you're trying to pull or why but it won't work!" Ryoga glared up at Ranma-chan daring him to defend his actions; then watched as Ranma's aura ignited.

"You, you.." Lost for words she searched for and found inspiration in a saying she'd heard so many times before, "..Ryoga No Hentai!" After the initial bout of aggression she was left blinking at the beautifully formed handle of the mallet she was currently holding. As to what it was made out of he'd have to guess that it was a titanium alloy of some kind because it was so light for its size. The handle was only a couple of feet in length, that wasn't what was so startling about it; the striking face of the mallet was almost as large as Ukyo's Battle Spatula. The grip seemed to be made for her hand, which in a way it was. Overall she admired the weapons fine workmanship as it sat in her hands, until she noticed the arms sticking out to either side of the head. Pinky fingers extended in the classical warding gesture they continued to twitch off and on until Ranma stepped back in surprise letting go of the handle. Then her mouth dropped open as she hadn't even considered where the hammer had come from. The handle began to unravel almost as soon as her fingers left it; like a spool of ribbon as the ki that formed it wisped away into the air. The red-head stumbled slightly as she felt the ki leave her conscious control, but then firmed her stance again as she regenerated the small amount she'd lost.

As the last of the ki evaporated into the air revealing the lost boy she realized that she'd have to postpone their conversation until the next day. He was currently in no condition to listen to reason; in fact Ryoga was able to groan only once as his eyes rolled back into his head and he passed out fully.

"Ah well, I'd probably have given in and hit him again, so it's probably for the best that he's knocked out for the evening. I wonder where that nurse went; her break can't be taking that long." Ranma tapped his small foot on the ground as she stood and impatiently considered the current situation. "Suppose I'd better put you back into the bed or she'll ask more questions that I don't want to answer." Not really thinking about the crater she'd just created or how she'd explain it to anyone.

She reached down and gave a hard tug that lifted Ryoga into the air, a flick of the wrist and a gentle push with the other hand and the heavyset young man came to rest on the mattress with a muffled thud that he wouldn't have felt even had he been awake. After being hit with something the size and weight of her mallet there was surprisingly little to show for her effort, slight abrasion on his forehead and maybe his nose was a little more crooked but that was the full extent of it. Ranma dusted her hands off she moved to leave the room through the swing door, the nurse re-entering from the other side found herself flattened against its hard surface as it failed to give to her push, then it gave and she stumbled over the threshold into the ward.

"Sorry 'bout that; I was just leaving." Ranma found her pigtail and began to twirl it nervously between her fingers. "Ah, I wanted to talk to you before I go though. Look I'm sorry about before, I've just been under a lot of stress. So look, can we start again?"

The nurse looked up startled at the forlorn expression on the red-heads face; she could also hear a note of sadness in the voice. That and her own conscience forced her to face her own mistakes.

"Yeah I think we can. I owe you an apology too; it's been a rough day for me as well. We had to send the Dekisugi girl off to the hospital at Naha to get the treatment she needs, that means I'm dealing with the normal workload here by myself. The name's Yuriko Ikehara by the way and as you can guess I'm the nurse here." She bowed slightly to the young woman across the tiled floor.

Ranma bowed back to the slightly older woman, and wouldn't you know it Yuriko was taller than she was. "Sorry about that too, I suppose I might have gone too far, but you know what they say about hindsight!

"I sure do. Are you alright?" It seemed that the nurse was looking at Ranma for the first time up close.

"Whad'd'ya mean?"

"I don't know, you just seem a little frazzled. Do you want to sit down?" Yuriko moved towards her solicitously.

"No, no, I'll be fine. I just need some fresh air, so I'll see you later." She took the opening afforded by Ikehara-san finally seeing the crater by the side of Ryoga's bed to make a break for the door.

"Hold on! How did this happen?" But Ranma had already released the door and it swung back into place. By the time she'd opened it to follow the pig-tailed girl the corridor was empty and Ranma was long gone.

-The office of Nosaku Itsunagi-

Nosaku Itsunagi glanced up from the computer screen as he heard the chime of the intercom system. Reaching over he pressed the button that would allow him to talk to his personal assistant.

"Good afternoon Nosaku-sama you have a call on line one from an Amano Dekisugi. Would you like me to have him call back?"

"No-no, I've been expecting his call, put him through now please. Ah, Councillor Dekisugi to what do I owe this pleasure?" 'As if I didn't already know.'

"I assure you this is not a pleasure call. It's been bought to my attention that my daughter was beaten in a duel by some honourless slut who cheated! An honour duel that you condoned no less!" The councillors gravelly voice echoed around the small office chamber as he nearly shouted at the leader of Clan Itsunagi.

"Do you believe you are in possession of all the facts Councillor Dekisugi?" Nosaku's voice turned silky as he laid the bait for his verbal trap.

"I know for a fact that the bitch cheated there's no way that ronin slut could have beaten my daughter!"

"Did your daughter inform you that I was standing less than twenty feet away at the time, and that I was the adjudicator for the duel?" A new level of ice entered the Clan Elders voice.

"..."

"I see, well let me tell you what I saw. As far as I was concerned the match was over almost before it began, your daughter was totally outclassed in the fight from start to finish. There wasn't a single point that your daughter seemed to be winning, and so it was proved at the end. It is too late to question my findings Amano-san. You can of course ask a Clan Council to adjudicate the matter if you so desire, but I would suggest that given the number of eye witnesses it would be a waste of everyone's time."

"You'd take this that far? Why would you take the part of a ronin over my daughter in the first place?"

"As the lying, cheating, ronin slut is my great-granddaughter Ranma who I am in the process of adopting into clan Itsunagi, your damn right I'll take her side over that of your daughter." For the first time Nosaku let the other know just how irate he was.

"……" Councilor Dekisugi froze as the whole import of what Nosaku had said crashed into his mind.

"There's also the small matter that led up to the duel in the first place. I'm sure the Clan Council would be delighted to hear that your daughter feels it is common etiquette to throw a weapon at a person who is using verbal barbs. Especially as it was a crowded room and the thrown knife could have hit any one of my students, some are not even training as martial artists. That I'm sure could lead to all kinds of questions. I'm also quite sure they'd find the manner in which Tamiko Kojima left this island to return to her family to be highly vexing. Do you recognize the name Kojima? No? Let me refresh your memory then. Two years ago there was an investigation into their business dealings, if you remember they were accused of having dealings with the Yakuza. Nothing came of the charges, but I'd have to say that on meeting Tamiko's father that he is probably highly placed in whatever Yakuza clan they belong to. That means that both you and your daughter are in danger of reprisals." His voice turned silky as he moved on. "I find your average Yakuza to be quite, how should I say, unforgiving? Now Ayu's safe while she's on this island, the Yakuza know better than to challenge the Itsunagi clan on its home turf so to speak, as for yourself I'd suggest apologizing profusely, and it wouldn't harm your case to throw in a little groveling. I can of course arrange a face to face meeting between the two families if you so desire, so that this unfortunate incident can be forgiven, even if it won't be forgotten."

"Face to face? With the Yakuza, are you insane man?"

"I feel you don't really have a choice at this juncture in time. I believe Ayu knew exactly who Tamiko was when she challenged her to a duel of honour. A little fight, that's not a problem, right? But your daughter didn't just beat Tamiko into the ground; she also broke her leg at the knee, by kicking through it. Now Ayu claims it was accidental, and I'm sure it was," His tone of voice however belied his words, he didn't believe her at all, "but the Yakuza might have a little trouble with that. I'm assured by my advisors that there are many ways for certain people to be hurt while making it look accidental, and the Yakuza are very good at it."

"What would you suggest then?" Amano was back to sounding nervous as his probable fate was spelled out for him.

"You already have my recommendation, face to face apology. Also it wouldn't hurt for your daughter to disappear for a little while. America or Europe should suffice. Tatsu Kojima took it pretty hard when his daughter was returned to him with a shattered knee. Even though it is probable that it can be reconstructed Tamiko will walk with a limp for the rest of her life. As for the martial arts she loved, let's just say there is little chance that she'll return to practicing them. Now placed against what's happened to that young innocent woman, what's a little of your pride? Now are you prepared to drop this matter of the duel between your daughter and Ranma?" While he wasn't quite as angry as he was when Amano started throwing accusations he didn't let it show in his voice in any way.

"Ah, um, er, that is to...Did you say Ranma? As in Ranma Saotome? You mean he's your great-grandson?" Several things that had come up in the earlier conversation clicked in the councilors mind and he couldn't hold back his incredulous outburst.

"Yes that's correct, Ranma Saotome, though he no longer claims that name as his own."

"You're telling me that my daughter, challenged Ranma Saotome?" Amano Dekisugi sounded faint for a moment.

"I take it you've heard of him?"

"HEARD of him? There's a whole government bureau here that's going mildly insane as to where he disappeared to. The Nerima Oversight committee hate it when members of the 'Nerima Wrecking Crew' as they've come to be known just vanish. Bad things tend to happen when they do; of course they've given up on trying to track that Ryoga Hibiki fellow, slippery devil that he is."

"If it'll put their minds at rest Ryoga Hibiki is also on Kanakita Island at this stage."

"And the island hasn't sunk into the sea yet? My god man how'd you manage that?"

"I believe Ranma rendered him unconscious almost as soon as they met."

"Yes, that fits. It's probably the only way to maintain peace around those two."

"The situation between the two is currently being resolved. I'll contact you with details of the meeting I shall arrange with Tatsu Kojima. Now if that's all you wished to say to me...I'll bid you a good day, Dekisugi!" The voice on the other end of the line was abruptly cut off as Nosaku replaced the receiver. Pressing the intercom button he spoke to Izumi Isozake his PA for the past ten years. "If that sanctimonious jackal calls back tell him I'm otherwise engaged." He lifted his finger and sat back in his swivel chair letting it rock gently as he lost himself in thought, ever so slowly a smile crept across his face. 'Ranma, you may not know it but you've helped me gain a massive political advantage today. Amano Dekisugi will be trying to repay the debt of honour he owes for insulting my clan for a long time, not to mention what he'll owe for the resolution of the mess between the two clans.' He leant back on the swivel chair and placed his feet on the desk and watched the last of the light leave the sky as the sun sank beneath the horizon. If he'd been younger he'd resemble the cocky stance of a certain martial artist who likes to smirk at his opponents' discomfort.

-Later, by just a little bit-

The last rays of the sun found Ranma sitting in her favourite place of contemplation, the roof. The fact that it was a damn sight higher than the roof of the Tendo dojo and was adorned with two entwined dragons staring at opposite horizons, one to watch the rising of the sun while the other would see it sink into the ocean at the end of each day, none of that mattered as long as she could think without interruption. Gazing out between the horns of one of the dragons on the roof she watched the few clouds in the sky turn to the kind of red that promised another beautiful day on the following morn. The sea was a sheet of molten gold as the blood red sun hovered on the horizon in a sea of heat-waves. In between her and the horizon the few parts of the island she could see were gradually disappearing in the shadows as night once again began its inevitable fall on the world.

Later Ranma would only remember these things vaguely, and the sounds of the birds coming home to roost for the night were totally absent from her recollection. There were bigger things on her mind at the moment, not that she'd come to any kind of consensus with the warring factions in her mind. On the one hand he wanted to hunt pig-boy down and give him a just serve of justice for fondling her body like that. Then there was the faction that kept piping up and letting her know that she'd enjoyed the sensations right up until she'd figured out what was going on, and in fact that wasn't stopping her from enjoying them in any way, shape or form, even now. They weren't the only voices but they were the ones she was arguing with the most, in fact the only thought she wasn't arguing with too much was the one that wanted to skin Ryoga with a dull serrated spoon.

She'd been on the roof for nearly two hours so far and she was still no closer to figuring out how she felt about this development, when her stomach decided to join in the fray and let her know that it needed to be filled.

'Okay maybe some food will help." So saying she ran lightly up the dragons spine to where the two tails met and then down the other side where she flipped forward off the eaves of the roof to the ground more than twenty metres below. Not even pausing to re-gather her balance she was off towards the main house in search of sustenance. Even though she knew relatively few of the Itsunagi clan members she was currently living with she still hoped that she could avoid company, she didn't feel that she would be very good as a dinner partner for anyone at the moment. Confusion tended to do that to Ranma. There was a long history of internalizing problems as to actually ask for help was considered un-manly. Personally the youth thought it was more likely that Genma hadn't wanted to put himself out and have to give his son valid advice. Still old habits died hard and she would try to keep this to herself as well, not that she had any idea of how to resolve this confusion anymore than she did the other things that were causing her trouble. Ranma decided to avoid the issue totally and head for the kitchen; after all if no one knew about her presence then they couldn't talk to her.

That was the idea anyway, but as everyone knew, nothing ever went the way the pig-tailed martial artist hoped they would. Coming down the corridor in the opposite direction was the elderly librarian Kaoru Itsunagi, and in the well lit corridor there was no real way to avoid talking to her without being unnecessarily rude. Kaoru proved to be as observant as Ranma had earlier found her to be and her bright eyes locked on the tiny red-head approaching.

"Oh good evening Ranma-kun how are you this evening?" She smiled in genuine pleasure at meeting her new young protégé.

"Uh, yeah I'm pretty good Itsunagi-san." Ranma tried to muster an answering smile but failed somewhat, due no doubt to the stress she was currently under.

"None of that now, after all the help you gave me this morning you may call me Kaoru, after all when people call me Itsunagi-san I keep looking over my shoulder expecting my mother-in-law to be standing there." The smile on her face brightened as she saw the puzzled look on Ranma's face.

Ranma just stared at her for a moment until she realized that the nearly ninety year old was joking with her.

"Okay Kaoru-chan I'll be sure and do that." Ranma dead-panned.

Kaoru almost giggled at the return sally from Ranma.

"Oh my, that's something I haven't been called in a long time. So where are you off to?"

"I was just going to get some dinner."

"In that case would you mind if I joined you?"

"Er, I wouldn't want to intrude on your plans for the evening Kaoru."

"Nonsense my child, it would be my pleasure; I find it very difficult sometimes to find anyone who shares my passion for old scrolls. It was more me hoping not to intrude on your meal."

Ranma looked at the hopeful expression on the old ladies face and all thought of opposing her joining Ranma at the dinner table disappeared.

"Of course. I'd be happy for you to join me." All the exhaustive training on etiquette that his mother and Kasumi had drilled into him over the last year came to the fore as he spoke.

"Come with me then the dining hall is this way." She gestured with the hot cup of tea she held in her hand and led the way to a sliding door that led into a large room filled with tables. The place looked a lot like a high class restaurant which wasn't too surprising given the number of catering staff the Academy was currently training. And once they were seated they were treated like high class patrons at such a restaurant. A waitress appeared almost as soon as they were seated and placed a menu before each of them as she proceeded to mention the special dish of the day; which turned out to be something Western that Ranma had never heard of let alone knew how to pronounce. None the less it sounded interesting when the young lady had finished her description, having each ingredient in it not just listed, but praised as to it's freshness and flavour had set her taste buds to tingling. Meanwhile a young waiter had come forth and set napkins for them, and then returned with a pitcher of iced water for them.

"Hmmm, that does sound nice doesn't it Ranma-kun?"

"Yeah, I think I'll have that." Ranma exerted an iron control over her stomach to stop it from growling and scaring the other diners away.

"Would Ma'am like any wine with that?"

"Ah yes, I think I would like a half bottle with the main dish please. Could you ask Hideaki for a recommendation please, I trust his experience to pick something nice to accompany the dish."

"And what about you Ma'am? Would you like something to drink?"

"No thanks, I'm fine with just the water." Ranma waved the waitress away.

Kaoru turned back to Ranma and asked again how the day had progressed for her since she'd left the library and the air was filled with their conversation as she asked questions while Ranma filled her in on all that had happened.

"So Makodai decided to go through with it did he?" Kaoru mused idly to herself.

Ranma looked blank not knowing if she should answer the question or whether it had been for Kaoru herself to answer.

"Pardon?"

"I'm sorry; did I say that out loud?"

"Yes you did, does that mean that you knew that he was going to do that?" Ranma looked up as the waitress slid a plate onto the table in front of her, she was then assaulted by the smell of the rich sauce that was poured over the food and her mouth began to water. This might even be as good as Kasumi's cooking, not likely in his opinion but who knew. She murmured a polite thanks as the young girl withdrew and moved to serve Kaoru, who paused in answering until she'd also been served. Then the wine steward came forward and opened a half bottle of wine for her and poured some for both of them at Kaoru's insistence.

"Try it Ranma, you never know you might like it. Going back to what you asked me before, in a way I suppose it does. You must understand as the clans' Archivist I get asked for advice from almost everyone in the clan at some time in their life. Makodai came to me a number of years ago; when we first learned of your existence in fact. I cautioned him that he wouldn't be doing himself any good if he followed through with challenging you in your mothers place. He seemed to take my advice, I suppose now that he was just humouring me."

"Why would he tell the librarian about his plans? I mean that….." Ranma trailed off as Kaoru held her hand up to forestall anymore questions.

"True, you wouldn't normally tell a librarian something like that, but I think you missed the distinction. Being the clans Archivist isn't a job, it's a calling. Like being a priest or a doctor. Books are my passion and being the clan's librarian is my profession, but the holding of the hopes and dreams, the hard times and the good times for the clan is my….it's a knack. I try to give the best advice I can given the life experiences entrusted to me and all the other Archivists through the clans' history. The aim is to try not to make the same mistakes our ancestors did." She smiled at the bewildered expression on the face of the young woman across from her.

"So you're like one of those agony aunts you see in the news papers?" Looking for some frame of reference to put the elder in.

"Hmm, kind of, but only for the clan. I receive e-mails from all over the world asking me for advice or to tell me something that happened to them personally that they feel could be of use to the clan as a whole." Kaoru smiled serenely at Ranma as the young redhead began to digest the information she'd been given.

"So how do you keep all of that straight in your head? That's got to be a lot of information."

"Oh it is, but like I said it's a calling. I could no more give it up than I could stop breathing. There is a quirk in the Itsunagi clan's genealogy that helps us with this; one in fifty children or there abouts, who are born to the clan have an eidetic or photographic memory."

"So you can remember stuff real good yeah?"

"That's right in fact I remember everything, but it's not just me. I'm only the head Archivist for the family because I'm so old. There are others who are just as skilled as I am, and then we all have our apprentices."

"So you could help me? If I had any problems that is." Ranma left her question hanging in the air, not sure where she stood in regards to her status with clan Itsunagi.

"Oh my! You're such an interesting case. You see it doesn't matter that you're not formally a member of the clan, though we'd like that to change, we would help you regardless. It's a matter of blood being thicker than water; of course some of your blood is thicker than other parts." Ranma chuckled as he got the reference to his father.

"Not that I need any help of course." Ranma settled on the chair nervously hoping against hope that Kaoru would drop the subject now. Being as she was so observant the Archivist dropped it with a not so subtle hook attached to it.

"Of course not Ranma, but if you ever needed some unbiased advice my door is always open. On a totally different subject, how did your translating of that scroll go this morning? I meant to have a look at it but the time just slipped away."

"Yeah I think it's going really well, I've gotten about half way through it." She sighed in relief at the change in the conversation.

"Enough to have a rough idea what it's about?" The librarian leaned across the table eagerly.

"It's some guys' journal I think. His name was Sehng Dai, and he lived in Kansai or maybe he came from there, I dunno I'll have to check that tomorrow."

"Did you learn much about him? He must have been fairly important as it wasn't common for a normal person to write in those days or be written about come to think of it. That scroll is roughly a thousand years old if I remember right."

"From what I can tell he was some kind of Colonel or General of one of the Imperial armies. I know he had some strange hobbies for a warrior though."

"What ever do you mean?"

"Well he liked to do his own cooking, developed some recipes all of his own. Something about deep fried chicken in batter."

Kaoru looked stunned for a few seconds as she put the information together then let out a bark of laughter.

"So that would make it Colonel Sehng Dai's Kansai fried chicken? I don't suppose there were eleven herbs and spices in the recipe were there?"

"Hey how did you know that? You said you didn't read the scroll." Ranma looked shocked that she'd been able to make that deduction.

"Why that wily little weasel!" With an eidetic memory involved she remembered the day very clearly, the day the American forces had occupied the island to use as a forward base from which to assault Okinawa. She even remembered their commanders' moustache and goatee. He'd been a young Colonel who'd been put in charge of the operation; mainly because he could speak the local lingo more than any other reason she was sure. He'd been intrigued by the library which had been a lot less secure in those days. He'd been given access to the library so that the Americans could be sure the Itsunagi clan wasn't harboring any Japanese troops on the island. After that their commander had spent quite a bit of time down there reading. Now she knew what he'd been reading.

"What? What's the problem?"

"Oh it's not really a problem it's just that a long time ago an American read that scroll and took the recipe as his own."

"You don't mean Kentucky Fried Chicken do you?"(1)

By this time Kaoru was chuckling to herself over the fact that they'd been ripped off without even knowing about it all these years.

"Ah well you live and learn, as they say." They both returned to eating the fabulous meal before them and after nearly an hour of quiet conversation with the elder Ranma put the spoon that she'd used to eat the Crème Brule with a decadently rich chocolate sauce down on the plate with a small ding as metal touched fine bone china. The two glasses of wine she'd drunk during the main meal had done their work and Ranma couldn't remember a time when she'd felt this relaxed. She decided to risk trusting Kaoru Itsunagi with her latest predicament, who knew there was a possibility that the old lady just might be able to clear some things up for him.

"Uh, Kaoru?" Ranma looked down at the small plate in front of her, and then looked up at Kaoru with a hopeful expression on her face.

"Yes Ranma?"

"Um I know I said I didn't need any help and all that, but could I ask you for some advice?"

"I'd be glad to help Ranma. When I saw you earlier I could tell something was troubling you and I was hoping you'd be able to ask me for help." Kaoru smiled at the red-headed girl across the table from her.

"You could? You were?

"Yes I could and I did. Now I suppose this is a little too exposed for you isn't it?" She gestured at the nearly empty dining room. There weren't many people left in the room but there were enough that it was possible for someone to overhear their conversation.

"Just a little, I was kinda' hoping to find some where a little more….."

"Hmmm, private?" At Ranma's nod she continued. "Let's see, the library is usually un-occupied at this time of the night, and with the security doors it'll be hard for someone to overhear us by accident. I have a few things to do right now, why don't you go on ahead and I'll meet up with you in a few minutes."

"Okay Kaoru I'll see you there." Ranma rose and left the table heading for the door.

To be continued...

(1) Okay I admit I don't know anything about the history of Colonel Sanders and KFC, and to be honest the truth of the matter doesn't interest me. I prefer my version of events anyway. Lol.

I'd like to hear from all you readers out there and find out what you think of my story so far. In other words please review.

Authors Note: Well I said that I'd try and get things resolved for the second day on the island in this chapter, but to be honest there are so many plotlines to pull together here that I'm going to get to certain things in the next chapter. Honest!

Now I said this was a kind of resolution story for Ranma and it is, but I also wanted it to be a little more than a spoof comedy. I like to build characters. Some of them seem a little bland at the moment, but I like to think that I've filled out both Nosaku and Kaoru a little bit. Also Ayu and her father come into a little better focus. Next chapter I'll deal with Ranma's emerging sexuality, and don't bother thinking you know what it is, because he ain't gay, but he don't know that yet. Lol. Yumi and friends show up in the next chapter, and they're gonna have an impact on Ranma, Oh yeah, and what an impact. Sayuri and Sayuki the Itsunagi twins will also make an appearance. What they're like you'll have to wait and find out, but I'll give you a clue, think NCIS the TV show. Then multiply by two. Muwahahahahah! Am I evil or what. Oh yeah that's right you don't really know who I'm talking about.


	10. Chapter 10

-Disclaimer – A haiku in English.

Writers wither like cherry blossoms

Creator's lawyers like glare of sun

Hah! Exactly 17 syllables. I didn't say it was good.

I have many apologies to make this is not the chapter I promised at the end of last chapter, in fact it isn't even close. But I swear it just jumped out and started bugging me, 'Write me! Write me!' after a couple of days of that I had to give in and do as it asked. To give you some idea of how much it wanted to be written my normal release schedule is somewhere around a month for a 7-11 thousand word chapter; this one is 14-15 thousand words long and took 4 days, go figure 'cos I give up. I hope no one's too disappointed with me, if it's any consolation I think this is probably one of the better pieces I've written so far. Not that that's saying very much. Of course if you agree or disagree let me know in a review. I'd love to hear your opinion of this chapter.

Okay for those wondering what's going on; the timeline for the story so far stands like this. The council of war (chapter1) was held on Saturday, Ranma escaped (chapter2) on the Sunday and the next day the Tendo family duped Xian Pu into following Shuichi Itsunagi. Cologne spends some time using her limited magic to scry for Ranma's where-abouts (but there's a brief section about that in another chapter) and upon finding him sets out to follow (who she's following you'll have to read and find out) arrives at her destination on Thursday and attempts to sort out the mess caused by her family. Ranma arrives on Kanakita on Thursday as well, challenges Ayu Dekisugi and fights her Friday morning.

Phoenix Ascension

Chapter 3H

**NERIMA-Late Sunday**

Akane stared at the gate in stony silence, she'd been staring at it for hours as if daring it to open and reveal the man she loved, but it never did. He'd walked out onto the engawa and had faded before her very eyes as he used his advanced umi-sen-ken to make his way out of the ward.

She knew him better than anyone else, for at least the last two years she'd been deluding herself, denying the traits that made him almost perfect for her. Sure he was prideful and sometimes an arrogant jerk, but she'd come to realize that was only his external armour, the face he showed the world to protect who he truly was. He was honest while those around him were not, he was hopeful when all others gave up in despair. His compassion knew no bounds encompassing both friend and foe alike.

If she were honest with herself she knew deep down that he wasn't as stupid as she often called him either, he'd just been trained to be ignorant. Genma Saotome had much to answer for, not that 'he' ever paid the price.

The one thing that she could see now that made the other traits of Ranma pale in comparison was the fact that he'd loved 'her', not the others. Xian Pu for all her glomping hadn't been able to hold him, and Ukyo for all her cuteness hadn't been able to buy his love not with all the okonomiyaki she'd given him. Like they say, "that was then, and this is now."

She'd finally done the one thing she feared most, she'd lost him, no not lost, but driven him away. In her fear of losing him she'd released all her pent-up anger, the anger she felt at her mother and father for abandoning her, but denied in her confusion. The anger she felt at Nabiki for using her the way she did. The pure unadulterated rage she felt towards the hentai brigade who'd attacked her for three months before Ranma came. And again at her father for not being the man she remembered him to be and protecting her from 'them'. The list of things that made her angry had grown the longer she'd known Ranma, but right at the top of the list was the fact he had other fiancée's who could claim his heart even if they never had. And now he was gone.

"Gone." She whispered to her self.

The first sob caught her unawares as tears began to roll from the corners of her eyes shaking her shoulders with its power. When the emotional pain became too much she released a wail of anguish that echoed back from the compound walls, and still the feeling of desolation grew. She never heard the sound of running feet but she felt the arms that encircled her as she was drawn into a hug. Even though it had been such a long time she recognised those arms and turned into her father's chest and held on as the waves of anguish rolled through her soul. For the first time in her life she allowed herself to grieve for all the loss she'd suffered. After what seemed like hours another pair of arms hesitantly surrounded both father and sister as Nabiki joined them in grief. Soun Tendo released his youngest daughter briefly so that he could draw both of them into a crushing hug, he felt their pain as keenly as he felt his own, and then as only Soun could the pride he felt in each of his strong daughters. They'd waited a long time for him to come back to himself and now he could be the man they needed once again.

Time passed and the sun sank beyond the horizon, the flame touched clouds changed colours passing through orange, red and purple as the sky darkened and the first stars appeared and then back to an orange tinged grey as the lights of Tokyo lit them once again in a pitiful imitation of the sun. Still Soun held his daughters even though their pain had eased. Finally Akane's tears slowed and she fell into an exhausted sleep. Soun lifted her limp form into his arms and rose to carry his youngest to her bed.

Nodoka sat silently as tears of compassion slid down her face as she watched Soun Tendo be a father for possibly the first time in over a decade. As he disappeared up the stairs with his youngest child she sighed wondering how her son was doing on Kanakita Island. They still hadn't heard anything from her grand-father, and with the directions she'd given him he should have arrived early this evening.

-Upstairs-

Soun Tendo balanced on one leg as he arranged his daughters quilt so that he could place her on the mattress.

Gazing down at her he realized just how much she reminded him of her mother. Her spirit had seemed so indomitable all these years, now he knew it for the sham it was. Both mother and daughter loved with everything in them, holding nothing back. The only difference he could see was that his wife had been honest with him about the way she felt. Ranma had never even guessed that Akane held a torch for him; she wouldn't let down her defences enough to trust in the man she knew him to be. As such things go, Ranma had stayed much longer than he could have, or maybe that was should have.

But then he was a little biased where his daughters were concerned, what father isn't. Soun knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that all three of his children were beautiful, talented individuals. He also knew that they could be mule-headed about the things they deemed important, even Kasumi had a stubborn streak at least a couple of miles wide it just took a great deal of adversity to bring it out. No one would believe it, but it took massive resolve and a core of iron for a ten year old to take on the management of a household the size of the Tendo dojo. Nabiki had perhaps paid the highest price in his opinion, but then again it was wrong for him to try and quantify their suffering. They had all paid a price when he, Soun Tendo had retreated from the world.

It took an event of cataclysmic forces to put him in that state and it had taken another to draw him back into the world of the living. Now that he could finally see his daughters again there was no chance he'd return to the shell of a man he had been.

Looking down he watched his youngest turn on her side and snuggle up to her pillow, crushing it in a sudden embrace as she dropped deeper into sleep.

"Rest well my little warrior, for tomorrow is another day." He gently reached down and pulled her comforter up from the foot of the bed tucking it around her he kissed her forehead and smiled as he left the room. Oh yes tomorrow was indeed another day.

Coming out into the hall way he found Nabiki waiting by her bedroom door. Knuckling her eyes as she tried to stay awake, crying like she hadn't done in years had been far more draining than she'd like but now she felt a lot lighter. Watching her father come towards her she dredged up a smile for him. This was the man she loved; the man who held her heart, at least until she found his equal. She knew deep down that she would never find his better.

"Na-chan, why don't you go to bed? You look like you're ready to fall asleep where you stand."

"I will father, I just wanted to say good-night to you, and that I've missed you."

"Would you like me to tuck you in? Maybe read you a story like I used to?" Soun smiled as her eyes opened wide in shock at his joke.

"Dad! Don't you dare, I'd never live it down." Nabiki put her fists on her hips in unconscious imitation of her mother.

"It could be our little secret you know. I know how good you are at keeping them."

"Well maybe you could tuck me in?" She asked with a hopeful note in her voice, they had a lot of time to make up for. She watched as her father approached then squeaked in surprise as he picked her up as he had Akane and cradled her against his chest.

"I can walk daddy! Put me down this instant!" Her indignant cry didn't stop her from wrapping her arms around his neck and holding him as close as he held her.

"Well O.k. if you insist." Soun Tendo made as if to put his daughter down, and when she released his neck he launched her quietly shrieking person across the room and onto her bed where she bounced once or twice. Nabiki started to laugh even as her heart continued to pound with the adrenaline released during her unexpected flight.

"That's not funny daddy!" Torn between indignation and the almost hysterical laughter that was causing her body to curl up in the middle of her bed.

"Oh be quite you. There all tucked in." He reached down and pulled her blanket from the bottom of the bed and covered her up, tucking the blanket under her body and neatly trapping her in a tangle of bed linen.

"Daddy you let me out this instant!" It took Nabiki a few moments to get enough leverage to release herself, when her head emerged from under the blanket she found her nose almost touching his. Looking deep into his eyes she read a message she hadn't seen for a long time. Then his words matched his expression.

"You know I love you Nabiki. Like your sisters, I love you." The tears flowed down his cheeks as he truly felt the emotion for the first time in ten years, not the overwhelming need to protect them from the woes of the world that he'd felt for so long and failed to do so miserably.

"I know daddy, I love you too." She wound her arms around his neck and pulled him into an embrace of her own holding on for dear life as another piece of her pain broke up and dissolved after all these years.

As she lay back and rested her head on her pillow to watch her father make his way to the door she thought about the things they'd need to do in the following days.

"Daddy," Soun Tendo turned back to his daughter and raised his eyebrow in silent query, "get some sleep, we've got a busy day tomorrow."

"I will daughter, for the first time in years I feel I can sleep in peace. Goodnight Nabiki." He went out into the hallway and quietly closed the door leaving her with only the light that filtered under the door and what little could get through her heavy drapes.

"Goodnight father. I think maybe I can sleep well tonight as well." She sighed as her head again settled on the pillow and in a few breaths the sleep that normally came so hard to her claimed her and dragged her down into dreamless slumber.

-Downstairs-

Nodoka Sat watching the steam rising from her tea as it cooled in the night air. Looking up every so often she checked the stairs to see if Soun was coming down again. Then even as she was beginning to give up and start to make her own preparations to go to bed she heard the heavy tread of a man upon the stairs.

Soun stepped into the doorway to the family room and watched Nodoka as she took a sip from her cup.

"I thought you might have gone to bed already Nodoka, it's getting rather late."

"I know, it's just so quiet. They're both gone, after all these years of mistakes they've both left me again." Nodoka refused to look up at her companion as tears slid down her face.

"No Nodoka he hasn't left you, you know that. Ranma was so happy when he learned you still lived, that his father had lied to him all those years. Then Genma tried to keep you separated with even more lies. In a way I feel sorry for Genma, in the end there was no one for him and everyone against him."

"He made his own bed Soun; I can't feel sorry for him, not after all the years he stole from my child and me."

"I understand, but he was my training partner for many years under Happosai and that forged links between us that I'm not sure can be broken. Even if he isn't the man I thought he was. I didn't know it was possible to feel both compassion and utter contempt for the same person, but he has always been good at manipulating others."

"And what of Ranma?"

"Oh you know Ranma, strong as iron, thick as brick."

"That's not quite fair you know Soun."

"I know, forgive my poor attempt at humour. To be honest I don't know, Ranma is resilient in so many ways, but fragile in so many others. I know one thing though."

"What's that?"

"Now that he's found you he will never leave you for long, and he will always return."

"That's comforting to know. I'm so proud of my son, not for the fact that he's such a strong man even when he's a girl. But for the fact that he's overcome so much and still he's a decent person."

"Sometimes that surprises me as well, but I've known him longer than you have and I've seen the way he used Genma as a role-model in the last few years. Someone must have given him some good advice when he was younger."

"So what are we going to do now?"

"Well first we're both going to bed…." Soun blushed as he realized the implications of what he'd just said. "…Er that is…."

"I know what you meant Soun, don't worry." Nodoka had a soft smile on her face as she was highly amused at his slip of the tongue.

"It's not that I wouldn't….." Soun stopped again and slapped his face as he tried to gain control of his wayward mouth. By this time he was bright red and Nodoka was almost hysterical with laughter as she watched his expression.

"So you find me attractive huh?" Soun started to hope the ground would open up and swallow him as Nodoka began to have fun at his expense. Then he firmed his spine and looked her straight in the eyes.

"Nodoka, I'm a man and I still have a pulse, you know it's been a long time since Kimiko….You're an attractive woman, I can't deny that, but I don't think either of us is ready to move on in that direction. My children need me, now more than ever and I don't think they're ready for me to make that kind of move anytime soon. There's also the fact that you're still a married woman, I couldn't be the one to come between man and wife. I'm sorry." Nodoka had stopped laughing almost as soon as he began to speak and by time he was finished she was completely back to normal, after all it wasn't funny anymore, there were more hearts involved than just the two of them. She flushed as she began to understand something about herself.

When she'd first returned to the life of her son she'd been happy that her husband had finally returned. Over the next year or so she'd come to understand that he wasn't the man she had married all those years ago, in fact he wasn't even a shadow of that man, but she was a member of an old family and it was hard to admit that she'd made a mistake in her judgement of him. Divorce wasn't unheard of in Japan, in fact it was a lot easier than it was in the West all one had to do was admit that one had made a mistake and find witnesses to countersign the documents. Then one had to live with the loss of face for admitting to the whole world that you'd made the mistake in the first place. Even after a year she hadn't been ready to face that, and then there was the fact that her son was a Saotome and after she divorced Genma she would have no further claim on him so she had been doubly unready to face divorcing Genma. Now things had changed, drastically for the better. Ranma was a ronin and could choose any way of life he wanted, Genma was in a coma at the local hospitals ICU ward, not that she'd wish that on anyone it was just convenient. Just as Soun said neither of them were ready to do anything other than lick their wounds and pick up the pieces of their lives. But…..

"It's something to think on though; I won't be married to him much longer. I can't, I won't live my life through my child Soun, don't choose to do so with yours. You deserve better than that and so do they."

"There's truth in what you say Nodoka but not yet, none of us are ready to move on just yet."

"No, not yet, but maybe some day." Nodoka smiled as she rose from the cushion she'd been seated on and made her way to the door. "Goodnight Soun I'll see you in the morning." Then she was gone, just a slight flicker of the hem of her kimono as she disappeared through the doorway and then the quick soft steps as she ascended the stairs to her room.

"Goodnight Nodoka." Soun also rose and made his way to the master bedroom, tomorrow would be a long day.

NERIMA-Monday

The next morning Akane woke with her heart in her throat as she heard a crash from the backyard. 'Ranma! It's got to be Ranma, only he could make that much noise this early in the morning.' She threw back the covers on her bed and ran to throw open the window, for a second the scene before her failed to register. There in the empty garden stood her father, standing in one of the starting stances of the third variation of an advanced kata for the Tendo style. She watched as he flowed into the first moves and then winced in sympathy as he stumbled as the kata became more complex. The next step, a lightning step caused him to disappear and then reappear just as abruptly plastered against the far wall as he'd failed to control the acceleration. That was the crash she'd heard earlier and her accelerated heartbeat crashed almost as fast as her father had into the compound wall. Then the thought that her father was practicing the Art after all these years struck her and she bolted to get changed into her gi. There was no way that she'd let this opportunity get away from her, who knew if her father would teach her after all this time but she'd be damned if she didn't ask him. She threw open her door and charged down the hallway almost running over Nabiki in the process.

"Hey sis what's the hurry?"

"Daddy's out in the yard practicing, I'm going to get him to teach me if it's the last thing he does." Akane set her jaw in determination; no one would talk her out of this.

"Way to go Dad, don't spend too long at it though. Kasumi's coming out of the hospital at ten, and we're all going to be there. Then we've got to plan for the fiancée brigade."

"Okay Nabiki!" Her eyes sparkled with the joy she felt, her father practicing again. Nabiki shook her head as her sister charged down the stairs sounding for all the world like a herd of stampeding elephants. Which was a distinct possibility if a school tour ever went to Jhusenkyou. Then she headed for the kitchen to find a cup of coffee.

"Good morning Auntie."

"Ah good morning Nabiki, was that your sister just then?"

"Yeah, she's gone out to corner father into teaching her now that he's back to normal."

"That's good to hear. Would you like some breakfast?"

"Yes I think I'll have some breakfast if you don't mind Auntie."

"I don't mind at all dear. If you don't mind me saying you look rather well rested, you normally look like you're in desperate need of caffeine." She was smiling as she said it and Nabiki had to admit that she was feeling better than she had in years. Then very quietly so that Nodoka had to strain to hear her.

"I think I actually slept last night." She looked down and stubbed the toe of her sandal into the floor drawing patterns in her embarrassment at admitting to anything that resembled a human weakness.

"Hmmm, that's good to hear. Are you and Akane going to school today?"

"No, we're going to get Kasumi from the hospital and then plan out deception of the fiancée brigade."

"I'd like to be there too; I hope Kasumi is doing better. I hear that young doctor of hers has hardly left her side since she went in."

"Yeah who would have thought he could hold it together for that long." Nabiki had always been amused at the antics of Doctor Tofu Ono, she'd watched as the new doctor to Nerima had become smitten with a young Kasumi. The difference in their ages wasn't so great that many would even raise an eyebrow now, but she'd only been thirteen at the time and Kasumi hadn't even known he existed other than he was the man who took care of her sisters injuries and acted silly when she came to see him.

Nodoka passed a cup to Nabiki who paused for a second to smell the coffee before taking a sip. Her body shuddered at the taste of the almost pure caffeine that rushed into her bloodstream. Then she pushed the cup away and moved to make herself some tea. When she returned to the table Nodoka had left to get the days washing together.

-Outside

Akane stepped off the porch as she headed towards her father. He was frowning fiercely as he tried to remember a complicated cross step pattern that led to a feint and then a thrust with the small wooden practice blade he'd taken out of storage. For a moment he seemed to blur and then…

"Ouch! Daddy that hurt!" Akane picked herself up off the ground as she felt the lump forming on her head as the knife that had slipped from his grip had flown through the space that her face would have occupied if she hadn't almost seen the blade and ducked to get out of its way. Soun Tendo panicked as he saw his daughter fall over then sighed with relief when she yelled at him. If she was yelling coherently then it couldn't be that bad.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there. You should know better than that Akane."

"Hey I was a good ten feet away, I should have been safe!" She leveled an accusing glare at her father who had the grace to blush.

"Who am I kidding? I can't do half of the things I used to be able to."

"Maybe if you taught me the basics then the more complex stuff would come clear to you again?"

"Hmmm, I suppose it is often easier to learn while teaching." Soun pondered the situation then smiled at his daughter. "Are you sure you want to learn from a rusty old relic like me? OOoomppphh!" The air was expelled from his lungs as his daughter tackled him in a hug that would have caused Xian Pu to sigh in envy, Akane was much stronger than he'd expected and she took him totally by surprise.

"You're not a relic."

"But you didn't say anything about rusty, huh?"

"Talk to the bump on my head father, it knows more about it than you do!" Then she broke down in laughter.

"Okay, I guess I have to relearn the foundation so that I can get to the advanced levels again. I don't want to hurt you if I do something wrong though."

"Father, learning the Art is to take risks, but also to learn from them, I can't learn anymore the way I am, and Ranma wouldn't teach me anything."

"Akane, Ranma has been teaching you all the time he's been here. Even I know that."

"No he hasn't, all he does it dodge and insult me!"

"But daughter you're much faster than you used to be, and your attack is much stronger and sure than before. You still need to work on your defense and you've always been strong. But Ranma insults have pushed you to speed up and they've also built your endurance. When you first started sparring with him you barely lasted five minutes, the last time I watched you spar with him you kept pushing at him for the entire hour and a half, and some of the moves you made were almost on a level with that Xian Pu girl."

Akane glowed at her fathers words; she was nearly on a level with Xian Pu? When did that happen? Could it be true that Ranma had pushed her to excel further than she'd thought? Then she remembered some of their sparring matches and had to agree with her father, he had been training her, not as his father had taught him but in the only way he could figure out without actually giving in and hitting her. "He really was training me wasn't he Daddy?" Her voice held an edge of excitement as she considered the current situation, only to crash around her ears as she remembered the insults she'd thrown at the pig-tailed martial artist all these years for not training her right. He'd said it himself, everything he did was training, she'd just let herself forget that for the longest time.

"Yes he was Akane, and he'll continue to train you when you return. After all he is the Grand-master of the 'Anything Goes' style now.

"Yes he is isn't he? But in the meantime I can teach you Akane-chan, and you too Soun me boy!"

"H-H-Happo-osai!"

"Yes S-S-soun?"

"But you were sealed away."

"No I went to holiday in the South of France and spent a few months watching the fillies on the beach. It was my ki techniques that relied on draining female ki that were sealed, but that doesn't mean to say that I can't enjoy watching young women now does it?" Happosai chuckled at the shocked expression on his students face, then frowned as he spotted Akane hiding behind her father. "Now, now Akane I won't hurt you, I got a little carried away while testing Ranma and I did a lot of things that I'm ashamed of now that he opened my eyes."

"What do you mean you were testing Ranma?"

"To see if he could put an end to my wicked ways, I tested your father and Genma the same way. But when they finally had me beat they failed to capitalize on it and I was able to escape on my own."

"What do you mean capitalize?" Soun asked, he remembered the day quite clearly, they'd stolen enough alcohol to float a battleship and then started drinking early in the morning, Happosai had the constitution of an ox when it came to sake and took a long time to become even tipsy. As the night progressed he'd slowly begun to fall under the onslaught of alcohol and by the next morning he was comatose when they chained him up and threw him into a cave with some dynamite then blocked the cave. What was to capitalize on?

"I realized you had beaten me as soon as I woke with the mother of all hangovers, might have had the father and a few other relatives involved as well. If you'd have approached me at the time I would have done the same for you and Genma as I did for Ranma and bowed to you as the new Grand-Masters of 'Anything Goes' after all a win is a win. Instead you ran away and left me to rot in that hole in the ground. I can see you're going to ask me why I had to test you. Remember I always called you both my heirs? So I had to test you to make sure you had the moral fortitude to handle the power of our style. Unfortunately you both had the spine of a limp noodle. When I came back you both cowered and let me do anything I chose, but Ranma, he attempted to stop me every time I did something wrong." Akane was frowning as she thought about all that the midget had said; she still wasn't coming out from behind her father though.

At that point Nabiki and Nodoka came out onto the porch to see what the commotion was about.

"You! What the hell are you doing here? You're supposed to be is a dark cave somewhere mouldering!"

"Waaaah! Nabiki doesn't love me anymore." Happosai wailed as he looked at the young woman before him, he was only joking but Nodoka seemed to be preparing to split him in two with that sword of hers. "Hold on a minute, I'm here because Ranma told me if he left the dojo in the next year or so that I was to come and protect everyone from any hostile martial artists that came to challenge the dojo."

"Yeah that's as maybe, but who protects us from you?"

"You don't need protection from me child, I'm here only to protect the dojo and those who live here you know."

"Well we had to redecorate your room; we burned your panty collection and repapered the walls." It had taken a lot of work to remove all those posters from the wall and half a day to remove the underwear from every surface in the room.

"That's all right, I planned to do it myself as soon as I arrived so I should thank you for your help." The family face vaulted as that was the last thing any of them had expected to hear from the little hentai. "You forget that Ranma sealed my ki draining techniques so they're of no use to me now. And I have to admit that I think better now that all that stuff is out of the way. Damn hormones clouded my mind so much on occasion that I think I owe everyone here an apology." Soun was half way to his feet when he attempted to break his nose for the second time in under thirty seconds. "Where is the fat panda by the way, I'd like to say hi to my number two student." Happosai chuckled as he thought about the titles he'd always used for his students, Soun was number one because he was a tall streak of piss, and Genma was number two, well for obvious reasons.

"Umm well there's been a lot happen here in the last few days; if you like we can explain it to you over sake?" Soun waved towards the door to the living room, it wasn't much of an olive branch but it was still more than he'd expected to give the old man who seemed to be behaving himself.

"It's a bit early in the morning for sake don't you think Soun, though if you'd make us some tea Nodoka I'd surely appreciate it." By this time everyone was becoming used to the surprises that Happosai was throwing their way and they only stumbled slightly as they followed him into the house.

Half an hour later Nabiki finished telling her Triple G-father as they'd called him when they were children all that had happened at the Tendo home in the last couple of days, even explaining the things that had led to the situation when he asked her to clarify several points

"So he finally left did he? Good for him, I knew it would only be a matter of time before he did. As for that fat fool, if he wasn't already in the hospital I'd put him there myself. I still can't believe that you expect me to believe that gentle little Kasumi could punch like that. Even if he had been hit with the 'Ultimate strength sapping moxibustion'."

"You think you're having a hard time with it? We saw it and we still can't believe it. Pow! Right in the kisser." Nabiki enthused as she attempted to imitate her older sister's punch.

"So she's in the hospital as well huh? Well I'm sure I'll see her later when we figure out what to tell the others to make them chase…Shuichi was it?" Then he smiled as Nodoka nodded hesitantly. "Well I'm going to my room, I've been on a plane for twenty-three hours now and I need to sleep. Could never get used to the seats, they're just too big for me to sleep in, and that stewardess kept asking if I was sure my mommy was going to pick me up at the other end. Hah, my mommy indeed!" He walked to the door and made his way down the hall to his room where he let out a muffled shriek.

"Do you think he likes it?"

"PINK! Who painted my room pink?"

"Umm I'll take that as a no then, shall I?" Nodoka looked at everyone else in the room as they attempted to keep straight faces. When the ex-Grand-master of their style came stomping back into the front room it was to find the inhabitants of the Tendo dojo rolling on the floor laughing. He waited patiently for them to settle down before he spoke, but Nodoka beat him to it.

"You can have my room if you like Happosai until we can redecorate your room."

"No that's all right Nodoka I can live with it for a little while I suppose. Though I have to say the ruffles and bows were a little too much even for retribution." Then he joined them as he laughed harder than he'd had reason to for a long time.

NERIMA-General Hospital

Soun led his two daughters and Nodoka to the room occupied by Kasumi. He hated hospitals with a passion, but couldn't deny the necessity of them especially when his child needed one. The thing was that the memories of her were always stronger here; the last memories were not pretty, the spark gone from her eyes as she died a little every day. When she finally passed away after nearly a year he'd been guilty that he'd wished her to die so that she could finally be at peace and out of the constant pain that the doctors couldn't completely mask even with the strongest drugs they had available. He'd stopped taking his children to see her when she no longer had the strength to hold them in her arms; she'd begged him until he'd given in against his own better judgement. Now he hated the smell of the place which hadn't changed much at all.

Turning into the final hallway they saw Dr. Ono sitting in the TV. room waiting for them.

"Hello everyone, how are you?" He noticed Soun's rigid stance and the slight grey tinge to his skin, things that told Tofu about the amount of stress the older man was currently under.

"We're fine Ono-sensei, and you?"

"Oh I'm doing alright. Kasumi kicked me out so she could get changed, but she said she'd be out soon."

"Come on Auntie, Akane let's go see if she needs a hand." The three women walked off to Kasumi's room chatting amongst themselves.

"Tendo-san? Um, I don't know how to say this, but. I asked your daughter to marry me last night, and she said yes. I need to ask you to allow me the honour of marrying her."

Soun stood like he'd been cast in stone as the words he dreaded washed over him.

"So you think you're good enough for my daughter do you? You think that you love her as she deserves? I know you can support her, but can you give her the support she needs? Do you think your love is enough to make this alright with me?" Tofu Ono stared at the man he hoped to call father in law and then nodded his head once decisively once.

"Yes, I think I can do all of that and more Tendo-san."

"Father! You leave Tofu alone." Kasumi stormed up to her father, her steps assured him she was fine and the sparkle in her eyes and blush on her cheeks showed that she was in the best of health. The only thing that looked out of place was the plaster cast on her arm that immobilized it from her fingers all the way to her shoulder. They weren't taking any chances that any of the fragments they'd placed so carefully in her wrist would move and heal incorrectly; Dr Ono had made it very clear what would happen to them if it didn't heal well. "You're scaring him!"

"If I am then he's not the man for you." His stern expression quivered ever so slightly

"But…." Kasumi trailed off as she glanced at her father suspiciously.

"But I suppose I'll have to say congratulations son. You make sure you take proper care of my daughter." Soun finally let out the grin that had been lurking just beneath the surface

"I will sir; I couldn't do anything else even if I wanted to. I love her more than words can express."

Nabiki, Akane and Nodoka exchanged looks as they came into range just in time to hear his last sentence then they looked at each other and squealed in excitement. Then they carefully hugged Kasumi who was blushing profusely.

"Oh and I want lots of Grand-children to coddle."

"Daddy!" Kasumi blushed even harder; in fact it was surprising she hadn't fainted with the size of the blush she was currently producing.

"Sir, while both Kasumi and I would like to have children someday, we've decided to wait for a few years." Soun frowned for a moment then asked.

"Why?"

"Well Kasumi has spent a lot of time looking after her family for the last few years and to be honest I'm more interested in making her happy than I am with producing an heir. I didn't want her to go from looking after her sisters to looking after our children; she's still young and should be allowed to live as much as she wants."

"In that case I thank you." Tofu looked surprised to be thanked for that until Soun Tendo continued. "For giving her something that I was too weak to give." Soun bowed to the young man who managed to hold his daughters heart.

NERIMA-Late morning, early afternoon.

Ukyo stood behind her grill watching as Konatsu bustled around the tables making final preparations for the afternoon trade. She'd come home early as school had proved to be a bust, Ranma hadn't shown, in fact no one from the Tendo residence was seen at school. She had to admit she was curious as to what was happening now. Then she felt a sense of impending doom, as if the thought of her fiancé had summoned it. She could see a red glare coming through the window and Konatsu had stopped what he was doing to watch the door.

Akane approached the Uchan's as fast as she could, she didn't know how long she could maintain this act so she had to make it in and out fast. The door was locked, but that had never stopped anyone in the Nerima crew before, and this was no different as the door buckled around her foot and then snapped to send one half flying across the room. Ukyo rose from behind her grill while picking splinters out of her hair, that had been a little too close in her opinion. She looked at the doorway and saw that Akane was as angry as she'd ever seen her, then she reached for her battle spatula and prepared for the onslaught.

"Where is he you hussy?" Akane pounded into the room cracking floor tiles as she came, the damage bill was rising rapidly and if Ukyo didn't do something pretty soon she'd have to take the gorilla down the hard way.

"What the hell are you talking about now?"

"Ranma where is he?" Akane was halfway to the counter when Konatsu tried to gently restrain her. That was when he found out just how much she'd improved, he'd taken her lightly and paid the price as she sent him sailing across the room to land in a crumpled heap against the wall.

"Hey! I ain't seen Ranma since he was in school on Friday!" She was nearly as shocked as Konatsu had been, 'When did Akane get that strong and fast?' She'd barely seen the move that had sent him flying.

"You're lying, we haven't seen him since yesterday, he didn't come home for dinner and Nabiki says he didn't have any money to eat out so that leaves you and that purple haired bitch." She was drawing on all the anger she'd felt over the last three years to maintain the anger aura that was threatening to singe the ceiling tiles.

"I just told you I haven't seen him." She backed up a little more, Ukyo hadn't seen Akane this angry since that farce at the first wedding attempt, not even the second or third had seen this much anger. Though she hadn't personally been anywhere near either of those two events. She learned her lesson when Ranma had refused to even talk to her for months.

"Then you won't mind me checking will you?" She slammed past Ukyo and headed for the stairs.

"Um, er sure be my guest?" She found she was talking to an empty room as Akane reached the top of the stairs and began to charge from room to room calling out for Ranma. A minute later she came back down her aura undiminished and the scowl still in place. "He's not here, damn where could he be?"

"I told you he wasn't here, now get out!" Ukyo had grabbed her spatula and was holding it in a guard position. She wasn't sure how much good it would do, this was a totally different Akane to the one she knew when she first arrived in Nerima. Akane stormed over and pushed the haft of the spatula into Ukyo who found herself pushed back several feet against the wall, as she felt the air being pushed from her lungs she began to panic.

"If you see Ranma, you hear about Ranma or even get a feeling about where Ranma is you call Nabiki on this number. She's organizing the search." She hissed the instructions directly into Ukyo's face causing her to flinch with every other word.

"But what happened, why'd he leave?"

"His father disowned him yesterday and we haven't seen him since. Remember you see him call Nabiki." She pushed hard one more time on the spatula and Ukyo grunted as Akane stormed out of her restaurant.

"My god, that fool! Why'd he have to do something so stupid?" Then she snorted, 'Yeah right, damn baka panda!' Her knees finally gave out as reaction caught up with the events of the last five minutes. Had it only been five minutes, it had felt like much longer, somewhere just this side of eternity. At least she knew who to contact to find out what was going on, the price might be steep but it would be worth it.

Fifteen minutes later a similar scene played out in the Neko hanten. Though

Akane was much more circumspect in the premises of the Amazon Elder.

"What can I do for you child?"

"Umm, Elder have you seen Ranma anywhere in the last couple of days? There was a problem with his father the other night and well he disappeared sometime yesterday. No one's seen him since and he hasn't come home for a meal either." Khu Lon watched as the youngest Tendo child played the part she'd been assigned, 'So that's the way they're going to play it, is it?'

"I'm afraid we haven't seen him, he came here on Friday as he always does and then he left. Tell me, what happened to Ranma to make him run?"

"His father disowned him; I don't think he could take the shame of being ronin. It's got us all worried the way he looked before he left he might do something stupid."

"YOU LIE! Airen never run away!" Xian Pu darted across the room and attempted to grab Akane to make her tell the truth. Only to find an iron grip around her wrist and her arm being twisted, she attempted the counter to this arm lock but found that Akane was much stronger than she was as her arm continued to be pulled in a direction she didn't want. A split second later her momentum was used to pull her off her feet and she slid face down across the floor with Akane kneeling in the small of her back still holding her arm in that damn lock. Khu Lon looked on impassively as her Grand-daughter learned not to rush in and underestimate her opponent, better to learn it here where she didn't think Akane would kill her. Then she turned in time to intercept a white blur as it moved to attack Akane from behind. Two more steps and Mu Tse became visible as a stumbling soggy duck that flopped to the ground wings outspread and totally unconscious from the staff strike to the top of his head.

"I apologise for this Akane, if I see him who should I contact?"

"Umm Nabiki is the one organizing the search, this is the number she's using." Akane placed a small card on the table. Xian Pu was fuming at the humiliation of having been taken down by the 'Violent kitchen destroyer' but at least she knew who to contact to find out what she needed to know, in an uncanny echo of Ukyo's earlier thought, the price might be steep but it would be worth it. Then her head snapped around as her Grand-mother continued.

"Oh and Akane there's no need to worry about the kiss of death over this," she waved her hand at the prone Xian Pu, "the Tendo family is absolved of all past, present and future kisses. Any Amazon who gives one will be charged with attempted murder, so have I Matriarch Khu Lon spoken, and so it shall be.

NERIMA-Early Tuesday morning

Nabiki sat and counted the money she'd been paid for the crucial information on Ranma's probable location. She'd staged it almost perfectly and the only slip she'd made had been missed by a frantic Xian Pu who was heading for the airport at the time. The problem was that while Ukyo paid for the information she didn't buy it. She knew there was more to it than she was being told and waited around until the purple haired hussy had disappeared into the distance.

"Okay Nabiki the truth. Where's Ranma?"

"I already told you all that I know Ukyo or are you calling me a liar?"

"In this case? Yes. I think you're not telling me everything and I want to know the truth."

"Look Ranma was disowned on Saturday, it took him until Sunday to figure out how he felt about that and then he ran off to try and discover who he is now. If you have any problems you can try to talk to his father, but that could be a problem as he's in the hospital in a coma. If I were you I'd go home and visit your father and explain the current situation to him."

"Which is?"

"Let's see, Ranma, a man who can level mountains has been pushed to the edge of sanity. He is no longer a Saotome so the deal the fathers made is no longer valid, I see you understand what that means; the only way for you to become a Saotome now is for you to be adopted by Genma or to marry him after his divorce becomes final. Then there's the fact that Ranma's mother is getting angry at the situation and may decide to step in and rectify matters and I guarantee that you won't like that."

"Nodoka Saotome doesn't concern me, there's nothing she can do to my clan."

"True, Nodoka Saotome probably can't do much but Nodoka Itsunagi can. It's still my advice that you go home to see your father and explain things to him. Then tell him that Nodoka Itsunagi would deem it a personal favour if he took his agreement up with Genma Saotome and to leave her son out of it."

"And how much is your advice worth?"

"Fifty thousand yen." Nabiki didn't even blink as she named her price.

"That's outrageous! Your advice ain't worth that much to me sugar!"

"Suit yourself Ukyo, but you know the saying, you get what you pay for. The price isn't based on what I think the advice is worth, it's based on what the advice is worth to you. All I know is that your father won't want a dispute with Clan Itsunagi. Anyway it's your choice what you do, I just sell the advice." Nabiki's smirk left Ukyo feeling decidedly uncomfortable.

"Okay sugar, I'll think about it." The following day found Uchan's closed for the duration and Ukyo herself on a train heading for her home in Osaka.

ELSEWHERE-Thursday afternoon

For a brief moment the hot humid air did battle with the over taxed air-conditioner as she stepped through the doorway into the airports terminal. Then with a roar the A/C unit won the tussle as the automated doors closed, and a blast of frigid air penetrated the gap between her collar causing goose-bumps to rise all over her body and her tiny frame to shiver uncontrollably. She'd been in transit for twelve hours and had had to change planes to reach this her final destination.

She'd been warned what to expect, but as is usually the case she'd hoped that they were wrong, that they'd made an error in their judgment. Now she bore silent witness to their predictions and the last hope she held had come crashing down around her. It was time to pick up the pieces and figure a new way forward for that to happen she had to find her quarry quickly and then leave as soon as they were able.

Walking through the terminal rather than using her normal mode of transport proved to be taxing, but she hoped it would give her the advantage of surprise, the sound of her cane striking the marblene (1) floor would be a dead giveaway to anyone who knew her. There! Across the foyer she could see him standing there waiting; now it was time to go over and claim her family and return to Nerima. She stalked closer using every trick she knew, there was little chance of being spotted in the crowded room, even if she was the only three foot tall Trollz doll (2) anyone there had ever seen. Not that anyone would dare to point that out to her, there was just something about her that warned people not to go there. Carefully positioning herself behind her target she cleared her throat.

"Hello Son-in-law." Then she cackled as the object of her current merriment whirled around in surprise. 'Yep, still got it!' She chortled a little more as she took in the expression on his face.

"Old Ghoul what are you doing…." Her words finally caught his attention. "What did you just call me?" He stumbled over the question as his mind began to catch up with events.

"You too silly Mousse, that Grand-mothers idea of joke, yes?" Xian Pu turned faster than Mousse had to look askance at the Matriarch of the Amazons.

"Do you see me laughing child? I have come a long way in a short time and I'm not in the mood for jokes. Now answer my question, where's your Airen Xian Pu?"

"He's on ship that dock here in next week. We wait for him here." She frowned at the Elder, 'Surely she can't be getting that senile that she'd forget something as important as that?'

"Hmmm, then it seems that the council was right and I was wrong. I didn't want to believe it of my own flesh and blood, but the very words you speak give there assertions more credibility. While we're on the subject of speaking you will return to using Chinese now, at least you can try to sound intelligent."

"But Great-grandmother tell Xian Pu to speak language of Airen."

"Exactly, so I expect the next words to leave your mouth to be in your native tongue. Do you understand warrior?"

"I understand Honoured Elder but I hope to hear an explanation as to why."

"As of Tuesday your unconsummated marriage to Ranma was annulled as per the agreement you made with the council after your punishment."

"What? They gave me permission to catch my Airen for as long as I needed."

"True, true, but maybe you should have stuck around to listen to the remainder of the terms and conditions. The very day that Ranma left I sent a letter to the Council of Elders proclaiming your marriage to Mu Tse, warrior of the Amazon tribe."

"You can't do that! You don't have the right without my permission or the express order of the…." She trailed off as the only other way it could happen crossed her mind.

"Exactly child, a majority vote of the Council. There were no dissenters, after you left without listening to the rest of the conditions and consequences of the agreement you made."

"No! I won't marry him!"

"It's too late for that grand-daughter, you have been married for two days already and as per the agreement, that you still have not asked about, there is only one way to dissolve the marriage to Mu Tse."

"I made no such agreement, there's no way I would, I don't love him." She stamped her foot, cracking one of the tiles with a loud report that sent the other patrons of the airport diving for cover.

"Yes you did actually, if I remember rightly, and I know that I do, you heard that they were allowing you to continue the chase for Ranma for an indefinite period of time and then you danced from the Council chambers smiling and calling out your gratitude. They decided to teach you the folly of not waiting to hear all they had to say and that is why you are in the situation you're in now. Would you like to see the document, the one you should have read over at the time and put your personal chop on or argued or bargained with them at the time? Now it's too late to bargain, but it's never too late to learn what other things will happen to you because of this."

"Why Grand-mother, why are you doing this to me?"

"You truly can't figure it out? You who would claim to be my heir, the successor for my council seat can't understand why I would do this? Something as simple as this escapes the person who would expect to be in a position to adjudicate disagreements, arrange trade agreements and lead her people into the next century. I was warned but I chose to disbelieve that any blood relation of mine could be so narrow minded. You two are indeed a perfect match, both blind in your obsessions." Khu Lon, Elder and Matriarch of the Amazons waved a casual seeming hand over her shoulder and neatly picked the descending body of Mu Tse out of the air with a concussive chi blast that sent the blind hidden weapons master crashing into the far wall of the terminal some 30 feet away. He hadn't even had time to voice his usual war-cry as he attacked the Elder for insulting his Xian Pu. "Fool, I never could understand why he won't accept his place in the tribe."

In response to the gunshot sound of Xian Pu striking the floor the 'Indian Rapid Response Unit' began to suit up in preparation to apprehend the terrorists invading their airport. At the sound of Khu Lon's chi blast they poured from their ready room screaming their orders to cease all movement or they'd open fire. Coming forward through the crowd they leveled their weapons at the offending trio, or in Khu Lon's case lowered their weapons so that they could cover this unlikely looking terrorist gang.

"Sonny you have about three seconds to put those guns somewhere other than in my face, or you're going to have such a political stink on your hands with the Chinese ambassador that you'll wish you'd never been born." Khu Lon reached into her robe slowly so as not to startle anyone and pulled out her passport, a passport encrusted with official seals and a letter of political immunity (3) issued by the Chinese government which she handed to the man who had the most piping on his uniform, who promptly handed it to a man across to her left. She turned to him immediately and bowed in apology.

"I'm sorry I assumed that the man with the most decoration was the leader, when I should have asked who's in charge here." The man in question raised an eyebrow as he scrutinized the passport in his hands then turned to the rest of his squad and barked an order in Indian. Suddenly the troops that had seemed so menacing a moment before in their heavy personal armour and facemasks shouldered their automatic weapons and stepped back to form a cordon around the Chinese trio.

"It seems that you're in command here." The sardonic smile on the officer's face belied any real rancor at the situation but Khu Lon chose to be polite about it anyway. "Please could you tell me if this is an official visit?"

"No it's not, I have come only to collect these two Chinese nationals and return them to Japan where they are supposed to be. I apologize for the disturbance, sometimes the only thing these young people understand is superior force."

"Ah I see," Though clearly by his expression he didn't have a clue what she was talking about, "I hope that in the future you would choose to have your disagreements some other place. Only earlier this week there was a failed hi-jack attempt, understandably the men are a little jumpy. Many more explosions like that and they may do something rash before I can stop them." As threats went it wasn't particularly subtle or smart but the Elder chose to resist comment on what had been said.

"Again I apologize and I hope that you can direct us to an open space near here so that we can continue our discussion?"

"There is a car-park outside and to the left of the terminal that should be mostly empty at this time. It is my hope that your 'discussion' doesn't damage any of the cars that are there though." He pulled a plasticized map from a pocket on his fatigues to show her where they could hold their meeting.

"Again I thank you for your forebearance, and hope that we cause you no more trouble than we already have." She cast a stern gaze over the two teenagers who were with her.

"If you need an escort to your plane please don't hesitate to ask, we'd be more than happy to see you safely to your aircraft."

"I'm sure. At this time we need to resolve a few issues between the three of us or there may be problems. If you could have someone locate my bags and bring them to me I would be very appreciative." Elder Khu Lon smiled at the captain of the Rapid Response team; at his slight return nod she described her luggage for him.

"I'll have someone bring it to you immediately Miss Lon." The Elder raised an eyebrow at the western form of address even as she watched him turn on his heel and walk away to join the rest of his team.

"Outside now, the two of you! Don't even think of answering back Mu Tse." He'd opened his mouth to protest only to receive a pounding upside the head from her cane which was in the case she'd chosen as carry on luggage. She'd held onto it as it was the most dangerous artifact she possessed and not just because it could leave a dent the size of the Grand Canyon in his skull either. She raised an eyebrow and waited to see if Xian Pu would need a similar demonstration to do as she was asked.

Outside in the car park they found a relatively unused section to continue their talk.

"So child will you answer my question. Where's your husband?"

"I told you, he's on a ship bound here, he'll arrive in just under a week. I plan to be here waiting for him!"

"So you're going to challenge me are you? Do you think you're ready? I didn't think so." She watched the body language of her grand-daughter change from aggressive to passive in a split second. "When you say he boarded a ship, you mean to tell me you fell for a simple 'Ooh look there he goes!' trick? I thought I trained you better than that."

"I checked, eyewitnesses saw him board the ship Great-grandmother! Do you think I'm actually that stupid?" Khu Lon noticed that Xian Pu had inherited the stubborn Lon family jaw-line, as the youngster ground her teeth together.

"I'm beginning to wonder about that child. Did it occur to you that it might be a look alike, that the young man who boarded the ship might be a close relative perhaps?"

"It wasn't, there are no close relatives that could take his place!"

"So you checked his family out did you, so you'd know that his mother has extensive family in the Tokyo area. Did you know that?" At the blank expression on her Grand-child's face she had to go on. "So you're telling me you checked for family on his father's side but failed to check the mother's family, even though she has been around now for over a year? Don't bother to answer that Xian Pu I can already see the answer in your eyes."

"But…."

"You realize of course that this is all academic? That your fate was sealed the moment that Ranma left without telling you where he was going, with the sole intention of getting some space for himself; or will you 'dare' to attempt to tell me that he informed you of his destination? Of course you don't know it's academic, because you haven't seen this." She slipped a scroll from her sleeve and waved it under Xian Pu's nose. "Go on take it! You should read it and make sure that all is as I have told you. You should probably learn the other few important things that the scroll contains." Xian Pu hesitantly reached for the scroll and then pulled it from her Grand-mother's unresisting fingers. She unrolled it and skimmed the preliminary description of her disciplinary hearing and the sentence they'd chosen to mete out for the crime of her disobedience. There near the middle of the document she found the clause that would allow her to continue her pursuit of Ranma using any means necessary, beneath it the personal chops of all eight members of the Council of Elders.

She remembered the day vividly now that she was away from it, at the time it had all been too much, her curse and then to find that she was still to gain Ranma for the tribe. She remembered the giddy feeling. Now that feeling turned sour as she continued to peruse the scroll. The next item was the item that was currently causing her so much frustration.

'**_In the event that Ranma Saotome should leave Nerima without Xian Pu or Khu Lon having prior knowledge of destination, in a matter that does not relate to training trips, schooling, holidays, business, some form of challenge or a rescue that is related to family or one of his many fiancée's or rivals the un-consummated marriage of Xian Pu to Ranma Saotome shall be annulled.'_** Again there were the eight chops of the Council of Elders, including her Grand-mothers.

"Why did you support this Grand-mother? What did I do?"

"It's not what you did Xian Pu that led me to this; it's the many things you failed to do, the things you didn't take advantage of. You should continue reading there is more that pertains to your current predicament."

'**_As Xian Pu is of age to bear children and has made no serious attempt to gain a mate the council chooses to exert its authority and choose a likely candidate for her. The only name put forward by the Council is Mu Tse. Therefore after due deliberation this Council will consider the couple as married and the tribes records will be changed to mirror their change of marital status. Only in the case of Xian Pu providing an heir of her body for each line, the Lon family and the Tse family shall the Council consider dissolving the marriage between Xian Pu and Mu Tse.'_** The first chop beneath the clause always told the reader the person who had suggested the clause, to Xian Pu's shock the first chop was that of her Grand-mother.

"You! You are the reason they chose Mu Tse?" Words failed her for a moment as she watched the expression on the face of her relative. Mu Tse fell backwards off of the folding chair he'd pulled out of sub-space even as a smile spread across his face at the vote of confidence that Khu Lon was showing in him.

"Yes it was I who made that suggestion. Before you ask I'm getting old child, too old to be playing silly games waiting for you to gain the love of a man who would never return your feelings."

"He would too, if his other fiancée's hadn't proven to be such obstacles."

"Yes, yes I'm sure that's true, and we all know your opinion of what should be done with obstacles even if Ranma would hate you for harming one of them. Answer this for me Grand-daughter, how important do you think family is within our tribe?" Xian Pu was puzzled at the turn of the conversation

"Family is everything; it is a deciding factor in almost all areas of Amazon life." She used a condescending tone of voice that let Khu Lon know that her Grand-child considered her to be going senile.

"If that is the case why is it that you asked Ranma to give up his own, do you consider his feelings in the matter of family to be inferior to your own? You ask him to give up everything he has and make no concessions and offer no compromise. A good leader should try to understand the feelings of those she would control; she would also understand the importance of compromise. You have consistently shown me that you are incapable of taking into account any other thing than that which you desire. You were told to use any means necessary to bring Ranma's bloodline into the clan, you could have seduced him in a manner that didn't leave him to be punished by his other fiancées and when you had his child then you could have controlled the situation better. You were not told to bring him back to the tribe, you were told to bring him into the tribe, you could have chosen to stay with him and raised his children as Amazons."

"But he is a male…"

"That's as maybe, but his bloodline would have been of extremely high value to the Amazon nation. Then there is the fact that you could have offered to share him with the other fiancées as is common practice with males of high potential, in fact you will more than likely find yourself in that position with Mu Tse."

Mu Tse looked up at the Elder and asked, "You consider me to be a male with high potential?"

"Of course, do you think that I would have tolerated someone with no use to me messing with the plans I made to the extent that you have over the years? If you had no potential you would have been shipped back to China in a small urn after a week, even if your parents would mourn your loss they would understand that it was merely the consequence of ruining an Elders plans." Mu Tse glared at the threat that was contained in her statement but then went white as the full implication of it hit him.

"The tribe is welcome to him I certainly don't want him." She waved a dismissive hand towards Mu Tse.

"Oh no, it's not that simple before any other may approach to share him it must be proved that you have consummated the marriage and that you carry his first child."

"Then no one shall share him because he will not share my bed!"

"You are wrong about that. You will consummate the marriage this very night and in the morning we shall return to Japan. Mu Tse you will show me to the hotel you are staying at."

"Mu Tse you will not do any such thing!"

"Umm Xian Pu the Matriarch of the tribe has spoken and I must obey her."

"Yeah right, you just want the chance to sleep with me." She glared at him down the length of her nose which was only possible because he was still seated; when he stood he towered over her by nearly a foot.

"Well that too, but you have to realize that while I have pushed the meaning of some of the orders she has given me, and while I have chosen to not be in a place where she could give me an order I have never actually failed to do exactly what she has told me when she gives me a direct order. I'm sorry but I can't do any less now."

"Don't even think of running Xian Pu it would prove very unfortunate for you to do so, I would have to return you to the Council of Elders for judgement yet again and you would not like the results of that."

"I do not run from anything but I'll have you know I would prefer to die than be forced like this!"

"You forget child that there are many punishments that are worse than your curse or death, don't push me into a position where I have to choose between family and the law. You won't like the results." Xian Pu slumped onto the chair Mu Tse had provided for her as a sense of defeat took her over. "Now Mu Tse go and get my cases, I'm sure that young porter who has been standing over there wilting in the sun would like to return to the air-conditioning in the terminal. Ask him to get us a taxi as well please." Mu Tse walked over and relieved the porter of the case and rucksack that Khu Lon had brought with her then leant over to speak to the young man who smiled and nodded quickly as a small pile of rupee. Less than five minutes passed when a taxi screeched to a halt with the passenger side door facing the Matriarch of the Amazons, who promptly gestured for Mu Tse to come forward.

"Mu Tse the taxi is facing the wrong way, could you turn it around for me?"

"Certainly Elder Khu Lon." Then reached through the open windows and applied steady pressure to lift the car.

"What are you doing? Put me down!" Which Mu Tse did when the car was pointing in the direction she'd chosen. The taxi driver found himself facing the diminutive form of the aged Amazon warrior.

"You wouldn't attempt to take advantage of a poor defenceless old woman would you?" She tried to sound querulous but the steely look in her eyes told the young Indian driver that it would be a big mistake to think that she was any of those things.

"N-n-n-no lady, I wouldn't do that to you!"

"It would be my hope that you wouldn't do that to anyone. Mu Tse in the front, we'll take the backseat

The short trip to the hotel was conducted in blessed silence, none of them choosing to talk to the others. Xian Pu stared at the document that sealed her fate as though it were a snake. She'd thought being forced to marry Mu Tse had been bad, but the last clause caused that one to pale into insignificance.

'**_In the case that Xian Pu proves to be faulty in her judgement in regards to her Airen Ranma Saotome she shall forfeit all rights pertaining to title of heir to the family of Lon. Any inheritable titles shall pass directly to her firstborn child or in the case that she fails to produce an heir, they shall pass to a member of the Lon family in good standing.'_** The implications were clear; she was no longer a member of the Lon family in good standing. Again it was a clause that was forwarded by her Grand-mother; the shocks were coming faster and faster as the day progressed. This was something that she would never live down, being passed over for another member of the family even if it were to be her child would be the worst shame she had ever faced. She continued to read the scroll for a few minutes more looking for any loopholes in the wording. She should have known better, the Elders of the clan would never let her get away that easily. Each new clause that she read closed one of the few loopholes she'd found in the main clauses and her hope died a vain death as she realized her fate truly was sealed.

"I won't give him up you know."

"Ah so you'll choose the path of multiple males, that is a hard way to go Xian Pu. As you are I don't think you're strong enough to hold Mu Tse and Ranma." She was alluding to the law that stated only the strongest could hold more than one high potential male, and that all other interested females could challenge Xian Pu for her second husband. In this case that would be Ranma.

"I'm the best warrior of the Amazon nation Grand-mother, who would dare challenge me?"

"Correction Xian Pu you were the best warrior of the Amazons in your age group. That is no longer true. Over the years you have failed to practice the new skills you needed to remain the best, in the interest of gaining Ranma, you have squandered the time you spent in a different country. You could have learned so much, but you were so busy looking down on the heathen Japanese to see that they had much to offer the tribe. You failed to even learn the language to the extent you should have, in fact Mu Tse is more of an asset to the tribe in that regard than you are. At this point in time I'd be very surprised if there weren't at least ten others who could beat you in single combat, and that's only the ones in your age group, there are ones even younger who could defeat you as you are; Akane Tendo gave you a hard time only a few days ago. You have much to learn before you are able to reclaim your place in the tribe, if you choose to do so I'm sure Mu Tse would be happy to teach you that you need to know."

"Mu Tse? I can beat him easily; he has nothing to teach me!"

"Do you really think so? Would you believe that Mu Tse could beat you with the greatest of ease even as long ago as ten years? He wanted you to love him and come to him of your own free will, not have you compelled by the law. Foolish Mu Tse, you could have been happy for many years if only you had done the right thing."

"The right thing Elder Khu Lon? I don't think it was the right thing, she would have resented me."

"No, she would have done the right thing and you would have both been happier."

"I think the right thing would have made a cold bed partner Elder. I preferred that she love me for who I am."

"Hold on Grand-mother, you say Mu Tse could beat me?" Xian scoffed at the very idea.

"Of course he could child, with his hidden weapons he has pushed his limits to the point that the weight slowed him down enough that you could beat him and it would seem that he was going full out. If he ever dropped his weapons he could beat you in a moment. In fact I'd go so far as to say that without his weapons even Ryoga would be extremely hard pressed to win against him."

"No way! Ryoga is the toughest man I know other than Airen."

"He is no longer your Airen Xian Pu; you will refer to him by his name lest you insult your husband." Khu Lon was glaring daggers at her Grand-daughter, which was only slightly better than if she were throwing them. "As for Ryoga being tough, that was only because of the Bakusai Tenketsu and his ability to handle heavy chi. Once Mu Tse and Ranma gained the Bakusai Tenketsu they surpassed the lost boy forever." Xian looked at the man she had known for most of her life and shook her head as the order of things as she knew them was strained to the breaking point.

"But he couldn't beat Ranma could he?"

"No, I don't believe much short of the Kami could defeat Ranma as he is, in fact I'd have to check out the power level of the Kami before I'd bet on anyone other than Ranma." Khu Lon gave a chuckle that had both of the youngsters shivering. "Now if you don't mind I'm going to have a nap until dinner is served. Don't go anywhere either of you." Khu Lon walked into the room she'd chosen once they'd upgraded to a suite and closed the door.

Mu Tse looked at his wife and began to open his mouth to say something when Xian Pu cut him off.

"Don't talk to me; I've got nothing to say to you. You're not my Airen." Xian Pu stormed into the only other room in the suite.

"Oh well I guess I'll stay here and stand guard." Mu Tse collapsed into a sofa chair and considered the strange turn of events that had overtaken him. Ranma was no longer a rival for his Xian, in fact he was no longer anything to either of them, with an effort he reined in his tumultuous thought processes and settled to the task of caring for his hidden weapons. Soon the only sound was the slow steady hiss of an oil stone as Mu Tse sharpened some of the many bladed weapons he had.

INDIA-Hotel Suite late evening.

Xian Pu poked the remains of her meal putting off the inevitable for as long as her Grand-mother let her. She'd said that they'd consummate their marriage tonight, but she'd be damned before she'd give in, those old fossils on the Council would pay for the injustice of it one of these days. Xian looked up as she heard a rustle of cloth from the other side of the table as Mu Tse shifted his weight on the hard wooden chair yet again. Look at him so impatient to do his husbandly duty, never! She glared across the table at him but it was a wasted effort as she noticed that he was cleaning his glasses and probably couldn't even see her. Then she turned her head at her Grand-mother clearing her throat.

"Children it is time for us to go to bed if we wish to return to Japan tomorrow. Xian Pu stop pouting, you must do your duty by your husband this evening." Mu Tse smiled across the table at his wife as he found another of his dreams coming true, but the goof feelings disappeared with the next words from her mouth

"No, I won't, you can't make me sleep with him Grand-mother." She considered trying to squeeze a tear from her eye but decided to settle on glaring at she caught sight of Khu Lon's stony expression.

"I see, so that's the way you feel hmmm? You're right of course I can't make you consummate the marriage, no matter how necessary it is. But I have to report to the Council of Elders and I'd rather have something to show there is progress. If you won't consummate the marriage at least share a bed with him. I don't want to have to sit on another Tribunal where you are concerned Grand-daughter." Khu Lon spoke softly to her young relative.

Xian Pu stopped what she'd been about to say as she considered her Grand-mother's words, true she didn't want to face another Council tribunal. A shudder shook her as she considered what further punishment they could mete out to her.

"Okay Grand-mother I'll allow this but it won't go any further." She turned rapidly and threw her bread-roll at Mu Tse. "So don't you get any ideas duck-boy!" She stormed from the table so she missed the expression in the Elders eyes, 'That's all you'll allow is it? We'll see what we'll see in the morning Grand-daughter.'

"That's fine Xian Pu. Then I'll see you both in the morning? I'll just write my report and then turn in for the night myself." She watched her Grand-daughters spine stiffen as Mu Tse came alongside her and then enter the room that they'd been forced to share. She was shaking her head as she sat down at the desk in the corner of her room and pulled out her writing materials. An hour later Khu Lon placed her quill on the desk and began to review the report she'd send in the morning.

_**'And in conclusion Xian Pu has been made aware of her new marital status and is in the process of consummating her matrimonial night at this very moment.**_

_**Yours in Faith**_

_**Matriarch Khu Lon'**_

Allowing the scroll to roll up by itself she took the small vial of passion spice she'd been using as a paperweight and replaced it in her traveling case as she headed for her bed and a good nights sleep. The sounds coming from the next room didn't faze her at all; she slept the sleep of the just.

INDIA-Hotel Suite early Friday morning

The morning sun struck Xian Lon's eyes causing them to flicker as she began to wake, her breathing changed the ever so slightly and her brow furrowed as a new scent came to her. The musky scent was quite potent and something she'd never smelled before but for some reason it felt comfortable like an old friend, and then she woke fully. An old friend indeed or more like a new husband, her lavender eyes widened considered to position with her slender arm draped over his broad chest and her head nestled against his shoulder, she paused to note that the her leg was entwined with his.

The heart contracted and then continued in its powerful beat, accelerating as memories of the night before crashed into her. Recalling how a kiss had led to another and then to a caress. She didn't remember when her nightclothes were skimmed from her body as new sensations had assaulted her; she'd moaned but hadn't cared. She'd writhed as his mouth joined his hands in mapping her body. When he joined their bodies she gasped in surprise but then she began to move with him until finally she'd screamed as the world receded in a flash of ecstasy that seem to flow through her limbs like a tide of old fire.

Through the next hours her sense of reality was reshaped with every move they made together until one fact came home to her in a shattering realisation, she was the wife of Mu Lon male warrior of the Amazon tribe. She could deny to until those cows on the Council came home but somewhere in her soul, a place she wasn't ready to face in the bright light of day her heart knew the truth.

She started to roll away from her husband extricating her limbs from his only to have his arm try to gather her back to his chest where he felt she belonged even though he was still sleeping. Xian Lon was having none of that, particularly against his hip and hands on his chest she shoved heart and watched with satisfaction as his body slid across the cool satin sheets and disappeared over the edge with his eyes wide in panic as his fingers sought some kind of purchase of the smooth sheets. She continued to roll off the mattress and made her way to the bathroom, a tiny smile played around the corners of her mouth as she closed the door behind her.

Mu Lon didn't even have time for a startled yelp as he slid out of bed and landed in a heap on the floor, and he'd been having the best dream ever. He sat up placed a hand on the mattress and then froze as he watched his naked wife make her way into the bathroom. Not a dream! The grin that threatened to split his face died a sudden death as a thought entered his head. "Passion spice!" It had to be, nothing else could alter someone like had happened to Xian Lon and himself the night before. If he didn't act soon he'd lose her to the doubt that it was all the drug, with that thought ringing in his head he bolted for the bathroom, stopping before he slammed the door open by a force of will alone. He opened the door gently and stepped inside.

Xian Lon was examining her face in the mirror when she heard the door open behind her; she looked up into the mirror and watched as the man who claimed to be her husband entered the room. As naked as she was, she felt no need to hide from him, last night he'd seen everything and touched her more times than she could count. Her breath hitched as she remembered the feel of sweat slick skin sliding across her body, the coarse hair on his arms abrading and sensitizing her wherever they touched. It was true, they were Xian Lon and Mu Lon, nothing could separate them now other than a direct appeal to the Council of Elders and not even then if she hadn't given two children to this man before her.

She'd known what was happening from almost the start as the passion spice had taken hold she could have run, but something, something held her there. That was the unknown, the thing that kept her from screaming at him to get out of the bathroom while she was in there. She watched as he walked across the tiled floor, slowly approaching as if she were a skittish horse, probably afraid she'd kick him like a mule more likely. When he came directly behind her he reached out and drew her to his chest

"Did I ever tell you that you're beautiful?" The arm around her squeezed her even closer as his free hand brushed the hair from her eyes, eyes that had changed so much in such a short time. "I often think about when I first fell in love with you, but to be honest I always fail. I don't remember a single time in my life that I haven't been sure that I love you, the smile on your lips and that mischievous light in your eyes as you pranked one of your cousins. Your heart, which made friends with everyone you met." His hand came to rest over her breast and she gasped in reaction as he brushed the sensitive skin. "No drug can change the way I feel about you."

"You knew!" Her startled eyes met his, irises open wide in shock as her penetrating gaze bored into his grey eyes.

"I figured it out just now. I lay there wondering what god I had to repay for that perfect night, and then I remembered the passion spice. I had to come here now; I couldn't have you thinking that last night had anything to do with some drug. I love you, always have. It's that simple Xian Lon; you have always been the keeper of my heart. You can do with that knowledge what you will, but it won't change anything in me." He started to move away from her only to have her reach back and grab the long hair at the nape of his neck and drag his mouth to hers, no drug was as powerful as the intoxicating scent of his warm skin. By the time she released her hold on him she was panting for breath and she watched her eyes widen in the mirror as he moved to join there bodies again. The flames of passion rose in her and nothing else mattered for a while.

She woke up late in the afternoon in the bed she would share with her husband, a secret smile at that thought, "My Airen!" Then in classic Amazon style she glomped him until he was awake and gasping for breath.

Outside the room Khu Lon cleared her throat loudly she'd noticed when Xian's chi changed to a waking state, "Xian Lon, Mu Lon we have a plane to catch. Why don't you get dressed now or we may miss it?" She glanced at the door, 'Silly children they always have to make things more difficult than they have to be.

End chapter 3H

Marblene is a blend of concrete and marble dust, a cheap alternative to real marble. It's usually painted with realistic marble effects.

Trollz dolls are a particularly ugly little doll with multicoloured hair that proliferated in the nineties and they still persist today though not as popular. I'm hoping that Kho Lon has a sense of humour, if not my will is in the cookie jar. My cat Thomas gets the bulk of my estate, which means he should eat well for a couple of weeks at least. Lol.

I've never seen a diplomat's passport so if there are any details wrong in my description I apologise but find that it's probably not that important in the greater scheme of things.


	11. Chapter 11

Author's notes: First up a note on the naming conventions I'm using for Amazons, actually I'm using it for all of the characters. I'm making the assumption that their names have already been westernized. I.e. Saotome Ranma is always Ranma Saotome to me, so it's Xian Pu instead of Pu Xian. This means that with the other Amazon naming conventions Pu is a title not a family name, it covers the age between becoming a woman for the first time (menstruation) to when the woman marries or has her first child, not necessarily in that order. In childhood a girl only carries her own first name so she would have simply been known as Xian. When she marries she takes her family name, in this case Lon so Xian Pu becomes Xian Lon. Mu Tse on the other hand is not affected in the same way, Mu Tse is his birth name with Tse being his mothers family name. It only changes when he marries and then it changes to the woman's family name so he becomes Mu Lon. Now of course there's nothing in cannon that supports my naming convention but then again there's nothing that disputes it either.

Second thing I'd like to say is thanks to all the people who reviewed. I really appreciate hearing from all you people it makes me feel great, even if the review is negative like the one below. I don't mind what kind of reviews I get be they good, bad or flaming. What gets me is when people take this 'fiction' too seriously; it is only a story after all.

On that note it brings me to the last point I wanted to answer. Now someone said that 'Passion Spice' is a Fanfiction plotdevice. As such it has seen much use, in every case someone is affected by it, usually Ranma as either male or female, and there's someone there to take advantage of it. Now it seems that people take that as humorous, I mean it's happening to a guy therefore it can't be rape, right? Even when he's in female form he's still a guy. That's a little hypocritical as far as I'm concerned. Suddenly when it's used on a true female it's condoning rape, well I don't, condone rape that is. I also don't condone in no particular order, spousal abuse, theft, coercion, black-mail, massive property damage, oh the list goes on. The problem is that if we took these things out of the cannon or Fanfiction then the story wouldn't hold anyone's interest for more than a second. So give me a break for trying to use the irony of Xian Pu having her own trick used against her, especially as it was used to open her eyes to the feelings she already had for her childhood friend IMnotsoHO.

Disclaimer: Don't own it, don't own that, that neither, hmmm, maybe that, on second thought that ain't mine either. Oh woe is me after a quick review I find I own nothing, here have some.

Phoenix Ascension

Chapter 3H

It was a good twenty minutes before Kaoru Itsunagi made her appearance in the doorway to the library bearing a tray of tea, even so Ranma wasn't startled, she could feel the approach of the elderly woman in the ki flows of the house as she explored a few of her newest tricks with ki.

It had started out as an exercise in figuring out how to form a mallet from her ki. She'd done it once against P-chan, and now she'd done it a few times, but to do it Ranma had to induce the same state of righteous indignation he'd felt when Ryoga had grabbed her butt. A couple of minutes later she'd repeated the process a few times but wasn't really able to figure out the trigger mechanism without the indignation so it had been put aside for another day.

One of the benefits of being such a young ki adept was that there plenty more tomorrows to figure these kind of things out on. So the pig-tailed girl moved on to other new techniques she'd developed, brushing the hair of her fringe out of her eyes, she managed to focus her mind to the point that she entered a meditative state, this time instead of a simple box as she'd managed earlier, she sent out a low intensity ki field and then mapped the reflections as they were bounced off of or absorbed by solid objects, using something like the principles of radar. She'd managed to draw a map of the library and surrounding area both above and below, increasing the intensity of her focus she could feel the area expand and fill in even more detail, there were quite a number of people in the area of her map that she didn't know but of the few she knew the one that drew her the most was Nosaku who sat in his den talking to a stranger, the person opposite him 'felt' truly strange to her in more ways than she expected as if the person were not quite as human as she at first seemed.

Whatever it was its aura was huge in comparison to the clan leaders. After a few moments it seemed that she could feel the weak ki that Ranma was using as radar and turned to face Ranma as if enquiring what she wanted. Ranma wondered briefly who the strange woman was but then put that aside as she felt the approach of Kaoru's familiar aura down the stairs to the library where she pushed the door open.

-In Nosaku's study-

Nosaku regarded the young woman sitting across from him with great respect. It wasn't often that she would come out of the hills and make her presence known to him, but when she did everything was put aside until she chose to leave.

She stood nearly six feet tall; the white hair that trailed over her red kimono was pulled up into eight ponytails that trailed down her back and brushed the floor by her geta (1). Her vivid blue eyes penetrated Nosaku's as she regarded him across the tea table, even as she raised a cup to the perfect bow of her lips.

"Old one, who is she? I have felt her presence twice now and each time the danger grows."

"The danger? What are you talking about Rumiko?"

"Ah, I felt her earlier today and again just now, she reaches out without knowing that which she courts."

"Who?"

"There is a young woman, new to the island, she has great strength but there is something missing. She seems to be playing, but she doesn't seem to have any natural mental defences."

"Ah you must mean Ranma; she is the only girl who has come to stay recently. What did you mean she doesn't know 'that which she courts'?"

"Exactly what I say Nosaku-sama, exactly what I say. She has twice today entered a state of mind where she has left herself vulnerable to invasion. She is only lucky that she is here on this island where none of the inhabitants would willingly take over the body of such a human. Out in the greater world she would be in great danger, and remains so until she has been taught to shield herself."

"Do you have a suggestion, there's no one in clan Itsunagi who has the ability to teach her to shield her mind while she travels."

"She doesn't travel; she merely opens her mind and lets it expand till it encompasses greater space. For a mere mortal she is quite impressive." Rumiko smiled, something about the way her teeth glinted in the electric light gave the impression of some wild creature. "As to suggestions, the only one who could teach her that which she needs to know is I. You will send her to me and I shall teach her. It need not be tomorrow but it must be soon; before bad habits become engrained." She placed her hands in her lap as she continued to regard her host.

"So be it Rumiko-dono. I shall send her to you as soon as possible. Now, would you care for some more tea?"

-Itsunagi family library-

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long Ranma, I got a little caught up with the kitchen staff." The tray was placed on the floor between two cushions and then the librarian sank gracefully into seiza facing the young red-head whom she knew changed into a boy or rather vice-versa.

"Nah-nah, I had plenty to keep me busy. I've been trying a few things with ki that I've recently discovered."

"Oh well that's nice dear. Anything I can help with."

"I dunno," Ranma tried not to sound too dubious, "it's all new stuff to me, and I kind of prefer to keep it to myself until I've got things figured out."

"Oh I quite understand dear, I've lived around martial artists all my life. Now shall we get down to business?"

"Er sure, what do you want to know?"

"Something specific about today is troubling you, when you left this morning you seemed happy enough. But when I saw you this evening you seemed confused and not a little worried. Perhaps you could start with what caused that and we'll work outwards from there, okay?"

"S-sure, you don't believe in starting with the easy stuff do ya?"

"No I don't suppose I do, put simply if I can help you resolve the hard stuff, as you put it, then you'll probably be able to handle the easy stuff on your own. So?" Kaoru settled back onto the chair and relaxed.

"Okay, um I suppose it started when I went to check on Ryoga…." Ranma covered the events of the afternoon over the next ten minutes and finished with, "..and after all that he accused me of trying something with him. I just don't know what the hell to think." Ranma looked up hopefully to find Kaoru's bright eyes focused completely on her.

"Have you ever felt anything like that before?"

"No! I ain't felt nuthin' like that before when I was a girl."

"So you've felt something like that when you've been in your male form?"

"Um, er, well yeah kind of. Why'd ya wanna know that?"

"I'm not trying to pry Ranma. For me to help you I need to know the answers to the questions I ask you. The more detail you give me the better I can judge the situation," Kaoru paused for a moment as she assessed him before continuing, "Hmmm. Tell me, have you ever been intimate with any of your fiancée?"

"How do you mean, intimate?"

"Have you ever seen them naked, or touched one of them?"

"Y-yeah."

"Which?"

"I've done both."

"How did that make you feel?"

"Sore."

"Eh? What do you mean sore?" Her brow wrinkled as she considered how he'd come to that answer.

"Well anytime anything like that happened one of the other fiancée's would find out about it, or walk in and then I'd be hit with the nearest solid object."

"I see. This is going to be more difficult than I thought. Okay maybe if I had more information about your life. Why don't you tell me about yourself, from the earliest memories you have to earlier today."

"Whoa, that's gonna take some time, you like wanna know everything?"

"As much as you remember, take your time I'm not going anywhere."

"Okay, you asked for it." Ranma paused to collect his thoughts for a moment and try to figure out where to start. "I don't really remember much about the time before Pops took me on the training trip. Just feelings mostly, sometimes a smell, you know what I mean?"

"Yes many people have that with their childhoods. For me it's a little different though."

"Oh yeah that's right eidetic memory. Must be neat to remember everything that's happened to you?"

"Sometimes, but I don't only remember the good times I also remember all the sad times, the times I was hurt. Sometimes I wish I could forget, to have those times disappear from my mind, but that's not my lot in life."

"Uh, I never thought of it like that, yeah I think I can see what you mean there are plenty of things that I wish I could forget about in my life. Anyway I suppose I should get back to my life huh?" Kaoru nodded slightly in assent, "I didn't remember my mother. Strange really when I think about it, I didn't remember what she looked like, but the scent she wore I recognized it."

"That's not so strange; smell is one of the strongest memory triggers for people. Why don't you tell me about the training trip?"

"Well sure, I don't know how old I was when Pops took me away, Mom said I was nearly five when we left an' I guess she'd be the one to know. I'd been training for a couple years before that, just the stuff a kid could do, nothing fancy just simple kata, then when we hit the road he added weights and started to push me much harder. We'd walk along roads and country tracks then head cross-country over hills and mountains in search of dojo that would take us in for a little work, pops would leave me there to learn what ever they would teach me only returning to do the work they required. Anyway it continued on that way for years until I was maybe ten. That's when he started leaving me to do the chores, gave me some guff about it being the price I had to be willing to pay for their tuition. I didn't really mind that though in a way I kind of agreed with him, after the chores were done I could put more of me into the art. You know what I mean? Up till then I'd only invested sweat, now I felt like it was my choice, you know, like if I didn't really want to do it I could just refuse to do the chores in the first place."

"It seems that you've done a great deal of thinking about your life. What about your father what part did he play in all of this?"

"Pops? Where do I start?" It wasn't really a question more just ruminating on what she should uncover for the lady before her, some things should be left well enough alone, like the Neko-ken, to tell her about that wouldn't serve any purpose. "I think I was twelve when I found out for the first time that Genma wasn't as honourable as he was always telling me I should be." Ranma looked up as Kaoru interrupted him.

"What do you mean? What did he do to give you that impression?"

"Well at first it wasn't obvious, you know he'd always disappear when we first arrived at a dojo after he'd explained what he wanted, and at first they would appear happy to help a wandering martial artist teach his only child. Especially after a little demonstration of the level I'd reached at whatever age I happened to be at that time. Then I noticed that the people we met were still glad to see me but father was made to feel unwelcome, I didn't really notice it back then but later when I thought about it I could see when it started. In the end we'd turn up to a dojo and they'd set a time for us to be gone by, sometimes we'd be chased by the locals, pops always said it was part of the training but I know better now. When I turned twelve we came to the first dojo that met us with barred gates, the master of the dojo came out and confronted father claiming he was not welcome for the numerous crimes he'd committed at other dojo across the country. He named a few of the crimes that pops committed and while they were all petty, things like running up a tab and then skipping without paying it, or taking food. It all added up after awhile, and then came the real crimes or at least I thought of them that way when I remembered all those friendly people who'd taught me over the years. He stole from them, important things, scrolls that held the secrets of their arts. He taught me those things even though he didn't have the patience to learn them himself. Genma always told me that they were a parting gift from the masters that I'd trained under." Ranma stopped to consider what he'd just told Kaoru, things he hadn't told anyone, things he didn't like to even think about, and maybe one of the things that he should have left in the dark.

"That is indeed a bad thing he did. Some of those techniques and styles were the work of hundreds of years to perfect. I know if I were the master of one of those dojo I would feel betrayed and angry."

"Yeah that's what I figured. After a while we couldn't even get close to a dojo, they'd meet us and drive pops and me off, that's when he arrived at the plan to head for the mainland and learn other nations martial arts, we went North as far as we could and then swam to the Korean peninsula and repeated what we'd done for the last seven years, learning Tae-kwondo and other Korean arts, it didn't take as long for father to wear out his welcome in Korea, they never really trusted us in the first place and word traveled very quickly. Then we headed into China and continued to journey looking for new techniques, we must have seen hundreds of dojo over there but we only got to enter a few, they're much more secretive about their art than some other places. Somehow pops always managed to get his hands on scrolls that covered the arts that really interested him though."

"So he's not exactly an honourable man is he?"

"You could say that, but I think they got their own back. The last dojo we approached refused to teach us anything but gave Genma a map of legendary training grounds, they said that he'd learn something special if he took me to any of those places." Ranma snorted in disgust. "We learned something alright, Jhusenkyou was the closest of the training grounds, I think he would have taken us to more of the training grounds but after he was cursed he decided to make that the last place we visited before going home." Ranma smirked when she considered the curse her father had been given, at least she remained human.

"Hmmm, interesting but that doesn't really answer the real question here."

"And what's that?"

"Well the real question you came to me with is whether you like girls, boys or some combination of the two."

"Huh! I like girls of course!!"

"Well that's the quick, expected answer but something in what happened with Ryoga today has you worried that you might be wrong. That's true isn't it?"

Ranma's face screwed up in consternation he hadn't thought about it quite like that, or maybe he just hadn't allowed himself to think it.

"There's no point denying it Ranma. You came to me to find answers but that only works if you tell me the truth. If you lie to me then you lie to yourself. The thought of being attracted to men disturbs you doesn't it?"

"Well yeah, I mean it's unnatural!"

"Unnatural? I don't think so Ranma, it happens in nature all the time, of course it's pretty much an evolutionary dead end for that particular gene pool but it does happen."

"But…"

"I'm not saying you're gay Ranma, what I mean is that if you are then there's nothing wrong with that."

"But…"

"Let me guess, you're father always told you that it was wrong?"

"Yeah, he was kind of hung up on me being manly, I kind of figure that had something to do with the seppuku contract he made."

"Hmmm? So tell me Ranma when did you first notice girls?"

"Um, I suppose I always noticed them on the training trip."

"Always? That's unusual in itself, most young children don't really pay attention to the opposite gender all that much."

"I always noticed them because pops treated their presence in the classes with contempt. He really didn't like to see girls wasting the time of the sensei like that; he thought they should be learning from their mothers. So yeah, like I said I always noticed them, kind of like an oddity. It took years for me to notice that they did it for the same reasons as the boys did, for exercise, fun, because of their families and there were even a few who did it for the same reason as me, they loved the art as much as I did, they just didn't have the opportunities that father gave me."

"That's not quite what I meant Ranma, when did you begin to notice girls were pretty, or smelled nice or made you feel different than the boys did?"

Ranma pursed her lips as she thought back, "I think I was thirteen we'd crossed over to Korea. I met Yun-Hee Shin at one of the first dojo we went to."

"So what was it that caught your eye."

"Ummmmmmm……When I first saw her she was practicing bojutsu (2); she was pretty good with it too."

"And that's all you noticed." She noticed that Ranma flushed at the question.

"Er, she had this really long hair that flowed around her as she practiced and her skin seemed to glow with…. I dunno what, but…. Then when she finished she giggled and well I wasn't really watching where I was going and walked into a door that was closed." Kaoru smiled at Ranma's embarrassment.

"So did you try to talk to her?"

"Nah, she was older than me, something like seventeen, and then there was the fact that every time I was around her she had this smile that made me feel uncomfortable, like she knew the reason that I walked into the door or somethin'"

"She probably did Ranma, after all a girl tends to notice when she's paid a compliment by a boy, even if he is too young for them."

"Huh, a compliment? How can me walking into a wall be a compliment?"

"Well you're a skilled martial artist, so I'm sure you walk into walls all the time?" As his flush deepened, "That's what I figured, she probably knew that you were watching her and that you were paying more attention to her than your surroundings. You'll probably never know how big a compliment you paid Yun-Hee but she does, she'll remember you." Ranma was blushing even brighter now.

"You think so?"

"Oh yes, and by your reaction I'd say we could lay your worries to rest. But I suppose I should ask; have you ever felt like that about a boy or man you've seen? Take your time; I want you to really think about this."

Ranma started to breathe deeply as he thought and thought about her question. Then he blurted.

"If I ain't ever felt like that about a guy how come Ryoga could make me feel like that?"

"What was the general reaction from your fiancées if one of them gained your interest?"

"Well they'd usually hit me." He felt kind of sad that he'd only had to pause for a second to come up with that answer.

"In other words, every time you began to feel good about being touched by a female or being in the presence of one of them one of the others inflicted you with pain. In psychiatric circles that's called aversion therapy. The patient feels good when they do something that's bad for them such as smoking, now along comes someone who does something unpleasant when they light a cigarette, do you understand what I'm saying Ranma?"

"Kind'a so when one of them made me feel something good then I'd get hit?"

"Exactly, so the two became linked in your mind, the pleasure you felt and the pain they gave you. Tell me did they ever grab you when you were female?"

"Only a couple of times, and they never hit me while I was like that, they seemed more embarrassed than anything else. I wonder why?"

"That's probably because they're as attracted to females as you are attracted to men." Ranma gave a little shudder at the thought. "That being the case you have no negative feelings involved with the way Ryoga made your body feel so you had no defenses against it. While you have great physical control of it you don't really understand your female body and so things like this will probably keep happening to you."

"So what am I supposed to do?"

"Well, I think you have two options here. The first is to shut yourself away in the hopes that it never happens again. The second requires you to learn about your female body as much as you can."

"Uh why'd I have to do that?"

"Simply put, you pride yourself on your physical control don't you Ranma?"

"Well yeah I've been working on it for most of my life. What's that got to do with the price of fried tofu?" (3)

"Let me ask you a question." She waited until the young woman across from her nodded assent. "How do you gain control of something that you have no understanding of?"

"You mean my female form don't you?"

"Of course I do Ranma, what else are we talking about?" Ranma blushed slightly as the older woman took her to task for not paying proper attention.

"So what do you suggest I do honoured elder." She smiled at the startled look in the librarians eyes.

"Well I never! No ones ever called me that before."

"Don't know why not, it's the truth ain't it?"

"Hmmm, I suppose so, but still… That's beside the point, what I was going to suggest was that you research in the library and then once you know more you might do some self exploration."

"Self exploration?"

"That's what I said young man, self exploration. Learn about the body you're in by watching it, touching it, listening to the feedback it gives you. Tell me have you ever, um, ah, how do I say this?"

"Ya might as well just say it; I mean you've asked about everything else in my life."

"True I suppose, but this is very personal." She stopped and gained better control as she watched the eyes of the redhead opposite her. "Alright, have you ever touched yourself as a male, you know what I mean?"

Ranma sat gazing at Kaoru, there was something missing in the question she'd just been asked, 'Touched myself?' She gazed blankly for a while and shrugged. "What do you mean?"

"Oh this is worse than I thought. Did no one ever give you the 'talk'?"

"Which one? People have been giving me talks all my life."

"Oh my, I didn't think I'd ever have to give the 'talk' to someone as old as you. In your case it's even worse because I have to give you three talks, one for each of your forms and then the one for girls who have their first period. You do have periods, don't you?"

"Uh yeah, but you don't have to worry about that 'talk' though, Kasumi already gave me that one a couple of years ago."

"Oh, so?"

"Yeah she found me in the bathroom wondering how to stop the bleeding." She glared at the older woman as she started to chuckle. "It ain't funny, I thought I was gonna bleed to death. Remember guys ain't supposed to bleed from there unless they're hurt."

"I'm sorry Ranma it's just that was a pretty strong mental picture you gave me. I realize it probably wasn't very funny for you at all. So that talk has been covered, well I suppose that leaves me with the two talks for your alternate forms. In a way it'll be easier to start with the male 'talk' first and it may even cover some of the female 'talk' at the same time. So here goes…" In the course of the next hour Ranma went through many colour changes, from normal to white to red and in a few instances she went green but in the end a lot of things that'd happened to him over the last few years made a lot more sense.

"S-s-so you mean I gotta…"

"You don't have to do anything Ranma, but I must admit most people have done some experimentation by your age. Either alone or with someone they like. But that doesn't mean you have to rush into anything, take your time and learn as much as you can first. In a way you're the envy of a lot of men out there."

"Huh, what you mean they wanna turn into a girl?!!"

"Well maybe some of them, but that's not what I meant. What I did mean is that most young men have to fumble through their first times with a girl without really knowing what they're doing. You on the other hand have a body that you can learn these things from. Do you get what I mean?"

"Um, no?"

"Alright, you got the part about making love didn't you?" At Ranma's nod she continued. "And you understand the concept of foreplay?" Again a slight nod, followed quickly by a definite shake of her head. "Oh…..Let's see. First of all each gender is totally different in certain ways. What I mean is when you touch your male body sexually it may feel good to you, but touching a female body the same way won't necessarily have the same effect. When you make love with the opposite gender it's not just a case of placing your penis inside the woman and moving around. Women take longer to warm up to the act of sex than men do. I'm going to add a couple of books to your reading materiel and I want you to read them paying particular attention to sections dealing with female arousal, oh and don't forget to look at all the pictures, they'll clear up a lot of confusion for you."

"Do I gotta?!!" Ranma had turned even redder than her hair at the turn in the conversation.

"Well no I don't suppose you do. Of course you'd be walking away from one of the most important challenges in your life, and to be honest I didn't think you were a quitter."

"I ain't a quitter, and I don't walk away from challenges, I'll do it!!" Then Ranma clapped both hands over her big mouth as her eyes widened in shock.

"That's my girl. Why don't you run along to bed now, I'll just check out some books for you and leave them outside your door." She weathered her second glare as the young redhead gave her a filthy look as she stomped towards the door. "So I'll see you sometime tomorrow then will I? Oh and Ranma?" The person in question paused in the act of opening the door and turned back to face the librarian. "Remember, you can only control that which you understand. Goodnight little one."

Ranma stormed up to her room muttering to herself, 'little one? Who's she callin' little one?' As she got ready for bed she ran parts of her earlier conversation through her mind and began to blush yet again even as she pulled the covers up to her chin. It would be a long time before she fell asleep this night.

The next morning found Ranma half in bed and half out of it as she'd tossed so much in her sleep, the covers were a crumpled mess somewhere on the far side of the room. Thrown there in a fit of pique as she'd been too hot to really be worried about sheets and blankets. She came back to herself and groaned in protest as she considered the way she felt, at first she thought she'd woken before dawn again but the light spilling through the window was wrong for that time of day. A quick glance at her clock told her it was coming up on eight in the morning. At which point she became a red and pink blur as her pyjamas went one way and she went the other on her way to the shower, she'd have had a bath but she didn't think she'd make it to her class if she did. One quick shower later in which she didn't think about touching her body in any way, nuh-uh not Ranma and she was back in her room and dressing in her favourite ensemble of red Chinese shirt and black pants with the little kung fu slippers she preferred. Then she was out the door heading for the opposite wall as she tripped over a heavy box of books that was squarely planted in the middle of her doorway. She glared at the box as she pushed it into her room. She had to get to the infirmary before Ryoga decided to leave, after that there would be no way she'd find him.

Over at the Academy she breathed a silent sigh of relief as she spied the eternally lost boy for once not living up to his name, still sound asleep on the bed she'd left him on yesterday.

"Ryoga?" No one said that Ranma didn't learn from his mistakes, of course calling out to Ryoga from the opposite side of the room made her feel a little ridiculous but experience was a harsh teacher. "Ryoga!!"

She finally gave up the subtle approach and opted for a glass of cold water at five paces. "Ryoga!!" -Sploosh- Ryoga rose from the mattress in a near vertical streak as he screamed.

"DAMN CURSE, WHY WON'T IT LEAVE ME ALONE!!?" It took him several seconds to realize that the words came out as words and not the enraged squeals of the pot bellied pig, feared by all….well not really feared by anyone who didn't have a phobia. Damn why couldn't it have been pool of drowned tiger or something more impressive? Blinking water from his eyes he saw the blurry form of Ranma standing at the end of the bed holding a suspiciously empty glass in his hand.

"What'd you go and do that for?"

"Yeah and good mornin' to you to P-Chan. Ain't even figured out that your curse didn't activate have ya?" She waited for the light to come on and tell her that someone was home upstairs.

"HEY!! I didn't change. What did you do to me Ranma?" As is common with people who spent anytime in Nerima, it was pretty much a given that any problem that cropped up was Ranma's fault, even when they knew he had nothing to do with it. This was a symptom of the phenomena that where there's smoke there's fire, after all, the people closest to him were always shouting, 'This is all your fault Ranma!'

"Oh yeah, like I could do that for you. If I could do you think I'd be in this form?"

"I don't know, you seemed to be enjoying that form last night. It was last night wasn't it?" Ryoga eyed the mallet in Ranma's hands warily.

"Yeah, and it can be tomorrow as well it ya don't shut up." She waved the mallet around to give him a good idea of just what she meant as visions of unconsciousness beckoned. "Just so you know I didn't do nuthin' to ya. It's just that you followed me here and this place has some weird magic wards that stop magic being triggered for up to six months after you leave."

"Really!! You wouldn't lie to me about this would you Ranma?" Ryoga's eyes started to sparkle as he considered the possibility that he'd never have to be a pig again.

"Nah, you should know that's one thing I wouldn't lie to anyone about. Just so you know though, you might change back in as little as two months after you leave, six months is just the best case scenario."

"Still…." Ryoga paused to think about the situation, "By the way, what are you doing her in Okinawa." Even Ryoga can get it right once in a while, or at least close.

"Who said we're anywhere near Okinawa, pig-boy? Don't you know India when you see it?"

"Don't call me that!!" He began to glow a pale shade of green as he became slightly depressed at the thought that his sense of direction had betrayed him again.

"Don't you even think about letting off a 'Shi Shi Hokoudan' in here, or I'll smack you so hard your honourable ancestors will be asking 'What the fuck was that for?' You getting me Ryoga?"

Ryoga was too busy staring at his rival to answer the question.

"I asked did you understand me Ryoga?"

"Yeah, yeah got it."

"Oh and that's another thing, you're staying right there in that bed until I come and get you, do you understand me? If I have to I'll break both your legs to make sure of it. Do we understand each other?"

"Um can I ask why?" He managed to seem meek at the same time as sounding his usual belligerent self.

"Sure you can. First things first, we're gonna get your ki sorted out so that you can't use depression ki ever again."

"No way, you ain't taking my most powerful attack away from me!"

"And what if I replace it with something more powerful?"

"You wouldn't, that would make me more dangerous to you."

"Nah, not even close bacon-bits. There's no way you could harm me, not even if you attacked me in my sleep, and you're too honourable to do that aren't you?" Ryoga failed to meet her eyes. "Right, just so you know you attack me in my sleep and there won't be a body to identify, you understand me Ryoga; I ain't playing with you no more."

"You wouldn't kill me Ranma, you're a martial artist."

"Yeah and just like you claim to be one I won't hesitate to kill you if you do that one more time. One thing dealing with Saffron taught me is that it's all very well bein' a martial artist when it's only your pride on the line. You can afford to be merciful; you can afford to play at it like some game where the points are scored in ego. When it's someone else's life on the line that's when it gets serious, that's when the fun ends and I have to be a warrior. You play at bein' a martial artist, you think like no one ever gets hurt, but you don't even see the damage we did, the people who you hurt physically or financially. I try and move away from people and you call it cowardice as if I'm runnin' away, when all I'm tryin' to do is protect those people from you."

"Hey what do you mean, I'm just as much a martial artist as you are."

"Not even close, you know how it's getting easier to release those 'Shi Shi Hokoudans'? That's a sign that you're losing the fight against your depression, sooner or later you'll release one in a crowded area without even thinking about it, and then you'll be a murderer. You might even be lucky and finally manage to kill yourself at the same time. At least you'd better hope so, 'cause if you kill innocents and you don't get yourself I'll hunt you to the ends of the Earth and end it for you."

"M-m-Murderer. Get out of my face Ranma; you don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh no? Look at your track record so far, every fight you and I have had has led to someone getting hurt, I mean other than us. And it was never my belt, neckerchief or 'Shi Shi Hokoudan' that was to blame. You're not a martial artist Ryoga, you're a berserker. You only see me when you attack and you don't care who's in the way at the time. Well that ends right here, right now. I ain't gonna let you hurt no one else like that. I'd rather kill you right now right here than run the risk that you'll kill some innocent person one day. Especially as I know it's gonna happen if you don't get some help now."

"Er…."

"Yeah I really am that serious about it. You try to run and I'm gonna come looking for you, and when I find you. And 'when' I find you, you'll wish your parents had never met, let alone that you'd ever been born. Now are you gonna be a good boy and stay there?"

"Un yeah I suppose I could do with a break from wandering."

"So I ain't gonna have to hurt you to make sure?"

"Nah, stayin' put Ranma." Ryoga swallowed hard at the cold expression on his rivals face, it was incredibly similar to the one he'd worn when he killed Saffron, and let him know just how serious Ranma really was.

"Right then, you need anything you call the nurse to assist you. I'll see you later to let you know what's going on, and when I'm gonna train you, and I am gonna train you like you've never been trained before. You think the old ghouls tough, you're gonna wish I was her by time I'm finished with you. But on the up side you'll be a better martial artist than you've ever dreamed of being before and you won't be likely to kill anyone that you don't mean to anyway."

"What if I need the toilet or food, I can't stay here all day?"

"I'll talk to the nurses as I said; you let them lead you to and from, if they ain't with you, you don't move you got me?"

"Yeah, I got it." Ryoga swallowed nervously, he wasn't any kind of coward but he also wasn't stupid, maybe a little blind sometimes but not stupid.

"Good, then I'll see you later." After a few minutes explaining the situation to the centres disbelieving medical staff Ranma made her way out of the infirmary and then continued on to the dojo for a light warm-up before her class started, or at least that was the idea until Yumi barreled past coming from the other direction at almost the same speed. Then she was being dragged in the other direction as Yumi rushed past.

"Hi Ranma, how are you this morning?" Yumi's eyes sparkled with humour as she trailed a wide eyed redhead behind her.

"Uh good, what's the hurry?"

"We'll miss the plane if we don't."

"Plane? Why would I wanna go on the plane, and where are you going? I thought I had class today?"

"It's Saturday silly; there aren't any classes this morning."

"Well I still gotta do my trainin'."

"Oh no not today you're not, we're heading for Naha today."

"What for?"

"Oh you poor deprived child!" Then she spoiled her auntie impression as she giggled at the expression on Ranma's face. "Me and some friends are going shopping and you are coming with."

"Me? What do I want to go shopping for?"

"What do you mean, 'What do I want to go shopping for?'. You're coming because there are some people I want you to meet, and then there's the fact we're going 'shopping'." She emphasized the word as if it should hold special meaning to Ranma. Who like a typical male had a real dread of the female of the species idea of shopping. When he wanted something he went into the shop with a clear idea of what he wanted, picked it up and then paid for it. Most shopping could be done in mere minutes as far as he was concerned; girls on the other hand had different ideas. They were prone to window shopping, to trying on dozens of outfits they had no intention of buying, then came trying out accessories for the outfits they had no intention.., oh you get the idea. In the great scheme of things Ranma could think of many things he'd find more enjoyable than shopping, such as having his teeth removed without anesthesia.

"Don't wanna!" Ranma slammed her heel into the ground as she applied her hidden weapons technique to give her greater mass. Yumi stopped instantly as the tiny redhead suddenly became much too heavy to move, then gave a shriek as she gave into physics and rebounded into the startled redhead's arms. She looked up into Ranma's blue eyes for a second before she started giggling.

"Oh Ranma I didn't know you felt that way about me." She suddenly found herself on her feet and Ranma standing several feet away blushing profusely. Damn that 'talk' she'd had with Kaoru Itsunagi the night before, suddenly all the rules had changed, well no, they hadn't really it was just now Ranma was aware that there were rules and other things he'd have to learn about girls.

"Um, er, I…." Ranma did something she very rarely did, that was she stopped talking before she put her foot in it again. Then she changed the subject as her new friend continued to giggle at her discomfort. "I still ain't goin' shoppin' with you."

"Oh Pwease!! Won't you come with me?" Yumi pulled out a first class puppy-dog eyes attack something she was obviously a black-belt in, and it wasn't even a standard 'Puppy dog eyed' attack it came complete with the optional pout even as she continued to tug ineffectually on the red-head's hand in a vain attempt to get Ranma moving. That was when Ranma found out that it was one of the few attacks she had no defense against. "You won't regret it Ranma." Contrary to the words spoken Ranma was regretting it already even as she capitulated.

"Okay, okay!!!! Just stop with the eyes already!" Yumi sent her a great big beaming smile before glancing at her watch.

"Oh no! We're gonna miss the plane!" Ranma felt her heart lighten as she thought to herself, 'Yesss! Not gonna go shopping, not gonna go shopping!" That was until she caught sight of the forlorn expression on her new friends face and found the second major flaw in her defensive arsenal.

"Uh Yumi, which way is it?"

"Huh?"

"Just answer the question please."

"Um that way, but what's that got to do with anything we won't make it in time."

"Wanna make a bet on that?" Ranma scooped a startled Yumi into her arms and then smiled as the young woman squealed as Ranma took to the road in a mad dash that caused the trees to blur, the wind whistled as Ranma increased her speed yet again and tears formed in Yumi's eyes as the wind increased. It didn't take long for Ranma to see the terminal building for the airport and then she increased her speed yet again as she closed the distance rapidly only to decelerate in the last couple of hundred metres. When she'd come to a complete stop she put a wobbly kneed Yumi on the ground and smiled at her.

"There you go now we'll make the plane." If Ranma was expecting a return smile she was in for a surprise.

"Don't you ever do that again!! I nearly had an accident!" Yumi was incredibly pale as she fumed at Ranma and the adrenaline rushing through her blood wasn't inclining her to be civil at the moment.

"Oh come on you were completely safe, there was no way you were gonna have an accident."

"That's not the kind of accident I meant Ranma!!!"

"Oh!" Enough said. "But we made the plane." Ranma pointed out trying to make it up to her now irate friend.

"So we did, and with time to spare. Come with me, there's some people I want you to meet." Again she grabbed Ranma by the hand and dragged her into the cool interior of the airports terminal. Inside the room was to put it mildly quite beautiful. Somewhere within there was a water feature, she could see the light that reflected from it rippling on the ceiling. The floor was paved in marble and most of the columns she could see were of the same material. The walls were tiled in a tranquil patterned blue, when she got closer she could see they formed a mural of mythical beasts, dragons, kitsune, even a few kappa and many others that she'd never seen before but she could guess they were some kinds of nature spirits. Not that she'd ever seen any of the first three before for real either; it was just that she knew what they were by the way they looked. In the case of the dragon and kitsune it was very hard to miss what they were. Overall the artist had done a very good job; they seemed so real that you'd almost think he'd had live creatures to use as models.

Yumi waited as her friend spent several minutes looking at the mural. Everyone did the first time they saw it, then she cleared her throat.

"Come on Ranma, they're over here."

Ranma was getting a little tired of being dragged around but as soon as she saw the ice cream sign next to the coffee shop she was moving under her own power. She almost skipped through the crowd of people as she made for the coffee shop and hopefully a nice serve of ice-cream before the plane left. Then she crashed to a halt as she remembered she had no money.

"Um Yumi? I can't come with you."

"Why not? And don't try to tell me it's because you don't want to, not after that mad dash you made for the plane."

"Well I am a guy you know, I don't exactly like shopping like you do. But that ain't it; I just realized that I don't have any money. I mean I've got money, Nosaku paid me for the class I gave yesterday, but I don't know how to get hold of it."

"That's easy; did you bring your card with you? You know the card for the Academy?"

"Well yeah, I don't go anywhere without it in case I wanna check out the library again or eat you know?"

"Good, that's not just an access card for the Academy; it's also a debit card for your account with Kanakita's bank. Didn't Nosaku-sama tell you that? Have you set up a pin number for it?"

"How do I do that, I mean I didn't even know it was a debit card?" Ranma looked closely at the card again as she tried to figure out how she could have known what it was. There in the corner was the clan symbol of a pure white, nine tailed Kitsune against a crimson background; each tail-tip was as black as if they'd been dipped into paint. Underneath that circle were the words 'First bank of Kanakita'. This was in the way of a clan joke as it was the only bank on Kanakita.

"Well in that case we'd better go to that ATM over there and sort that out first, you might also want to take some money out for today."

"Okay sounds like a good idea." They walked over and a little while later Ranma was walking back to the coffee shop with most of her money in her wallet.

"I don't think it's a good idea to take that much money with you Ranma, what happens if you're robbed?"

"I'd just have to beat them up of course." Ranma looked at her as if to say, 'You had to ask?'

"What if they're armed with knives?"

"Then they'd better hope they've got good medical insurance, cause I won't go easy on someone who'd pull a knife on an unarmed and defenceless girl like me." Ranma's eyes turned cold and flinty as she said the last and Yumi stifled a shiver as she remembered the beating Ayu had taken the day before. Okay maybe Ranma could take care of herself, maybe she should try to warn the thugs not to try anything if they valued their health.

"Okay, let's just go and meet my friends Ranma. Oooh look there they are." Yumi pointed at a large table in the back of the coffee shop where a group of teenagers were sitting, Ranma thought she could recognize a few of them from her class. It was then that Ranma realized just how many red-heads there were in the crowd around her, there was even one at the table they were approaching. She craned her neck to look over her shoulder and saw that out of the seventy or so people waiting around that nearly a quarter of them had hair the same colour as her own.

"Yeah amazing isn't it, there's more red-heads per capita on Kanakita than anywhere else in the world. Didn't you notice that before?"

"Must have slipped my mind, I've been real busy since I got here remember?"

"Well yeah I suppose. Hi guys, this is Ranma, Ranma from the right, the red-head is Sayuki Itsunagi, don't get her started on computers whatever you do." The young girl in question smiled as she stood up to say hi, she was dressed a little like one of those goth girls she'd seen around Harajuku, the short skirt had thrills around the hem and the shirt she wore seemed to come from the turn of the century, her eyes had quite heavy eyeliner making her blue eyes seem huge. She had a couple of ponytails that fell to either side of her head and of course her hair was the same colour as Ranma's. (4)

"To the left is Hiroko Naka from Tochigi prefecture, she's here studying business management," Hiroko waved her hand in greeting, she didn't seem any different than many of the other Japanese girls that Ranma had seen, but there was an intensity about her, something like Nabiki without the 'Ice Queen' persona, "on her other side is Sayuri Itsunagi she's Sayuki's elder twin sister, she's like you a bit of a martial arts nut." The girl in question was nothing like her sister in fact Ranma looked much more like Sayuki's twin than did Sayuri. The only thing they had in common was in their respective bone structure. Her eyes were the colour of wet grass, such a bright shade that clashed with the raven hued hair that was cut in a short bob. Her build was larger than Ranma but lacked a certain something that Ranma thought of as density like the muscle wasn't as powerful as her size suggested. Of course if she'd been raised like Ranma she'd be a real threat given that selfsame size.

"Next there's Koji Itsunagi who you've already met or so I 'hear'," She gave a significant wink as several of the girls giggled much to the embarrassment of Ranma and Koji. Koji didn't look anything like his father in build but the colouration was Itsunagi through and through, or what she was coming to consider as Itsunagi, his hair was the same dark hue as Sayuri but his eyes were the same blue as Ranma's. He stood taller than his father and was certainly slimmer lacking the muscle of his old man, like he didn't practice the art, which was true if what Nosaku had told held any truth and she had no reason to doubt him.

"To the immediate left is Leiji Matsumoto who's training to be a chef, she hopes to get into one of the top restaurants in Tokyo when she finishes her hospitality course." Leiji looked like she enjoyed her cooking, then again Ranma had learned that you should never trust a skinny cook, Kasumi was an exception to the rule and she only looked as she did as she exercised everyday while cleaning the house and making repairs.

"So where are we going Yumi? I know we're going to Naha but are we going for any specific reason?" Sayuri asked her friend.

"Well yeah, Ranma here hasn't seen Naha before and I want to show her our backyard so to speak. We're gonna show her 'all' the best spots to pick up a bargain in Okinawa." Koji indulged in the shudder that Ranma struggled to suppress.

"Thank Kami I'm only going over there to meet with some friends, I don't think I could stand following you guys all over the city."

"Ah well there goes our pack mule, we should have put a leash on him sooner." Leiji smiled at Koji as he turned red with embarrassment.

"Oh Leiji I didn't know you felt that way about Koji!" Sayuri laughed as her friend turned even redder than Koji.

"…." Leiji wisely kept her mouth shut as her friends continued to rib her about her slip of the tongue. Ranma headed off for the counter to order her ice-cream, one of the girls had mentioned that they had ten or so minutes before they had to board the plane and she was going to make very good use of it as well. Returning to the table a couple of minutes later she placed her bowl down on the table and looked up at the girls who were watching her closely as she dug into the confection in front of her.

"You're not going to eat all of that surely? You'll get as big as a house." Sayuki asked.

"Um if she eats anything like she did on Thursday then she's gonna eat the whole thing and it won't take that long. I've seen piranha on the T.V. that eat slower than she does." Ranma didn't even look up as she dug in and began a show of Saotome speed eating techniques, as the grand-master of the school she could use anything from the school that struck her fancy without permission, no matter what Genma had said.

"Uh guys we'd better check in soon we don't want to miss out today do we?"

Ranma let the spoon rattle in the bottom of her empty bowl as she sat back and patted her stomach, it wasn't a good idea to have it for breakfast but who cared when it tasted that good? She turned her attention to the conversation.

"Why'd we have to check in?"

"That's right, you wouldn't know would you? Okay it's like this, all the adults pay a small fee to travel to Naha, tourists pay a competitive rate to commercial airline, while family pay just a couple of thousand yen. Teenagers who don't work get to travel for free, but only after all the adults are seated, after that seats are allocated to us on a first come first served basis."

"Does that mean I'm gonna have to pay? I mean Nosaku did pay me for that lesson I taught yesterday." She looked up as Yumi and Sayuri let out gasps then she quirked an eyebrow as if to ask what was up with them.

"I forgot about the breathing exercise now I have to start again."

"Oh is that all? Don't worry about it too much; it'll come to you in time. Just start over, try to keep it in the corner of your mind while you're awake though."

"Huh what's this about breathing?"

"Ranma here is teaching us to use Ki! She's really good at it we watched her blow a hole in a wooden post and then she did this aura thing, it was so cool!" Sayuri was turning out to be one of the more vocal girls in the group. Koji looked over at Ranma and tried to see what made her so special, apart from looking like any other Itsunagi she really didn't seem all that strong. Then again looks could be deceiving but that thought could wait for later they had a plane to catch.

To be continued………

Okay guys I would really like to see some reviews for this chapter, actually I'd have liked to see more reviews for all of my chapters but oh well. I'm truly gonna start to accelerate this story soon. It's just I haven't run out of subject matter for Ranma's growth yet, which I think I'm handling quite well all in all.

(1) Geta are the traditional wooden footwear worn by Japanese people. Usually they are a wooden platform with two wooden struts on the bottom for traction. In the mountainous areas there is another type that only has the one wooden strut to make balancing easier.

(2) Bojutsu is literally translated as the 'Art of the staff', if I'd used Bodo that would have been the 'Way of the staff', don't say I don't try to teach you nuthin'

(3) It's the closest translation I could think of for the saying 'What's that got to do with the price of sliced bread?'

(4) Okay I have to admit I used Abby from NCIS as inspiration, but you really don't see enough of Abby to get a feel for her personality, such a shame as I think she's one of the better characters in that great show.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer:- This original work is owned by the author, it is created for the enjoyment of others. The original work this authors work is based on is owned by other others, if the other others wish to sue the author, the author advises the other others to contact the other others lawyers. Though if the other others lawyers were to take action against the author then the authors others would be disappointed. As would the other others as the author is a pauper.

I must apologise for the delay. As is usual life has decided to be difficult and throw a wrench in the works alright it was more like the whole tool box but that's over with now. This chapter isn't how I first envisioned it, thank the Kami. I think it's better this way, and I hope you agree. I won't bore you with excuses for the delays just know that I wrote when motivated or awake enough to do so. Retail worker, Christmas, Nuff said.

'Phoenix Ascension'

Chapter 3J

Ranma suddenly realized that fifteen thousand feet in the air was not the time to remember that she'd forgotten something or in this case someone. Especially as most of the people were looking at her after she shouted…."Crud!! Ryoga ain't gonna be happy with me when I get back." As the last word left her mouth she noticed everyone staring at her and let out a nervous chuckle "Eh-heh…" Her feeble laughter trailed off after a moment and she settled back into the chair with a groan and closed her eyes hoping it would all go away.

With Ranma's luck there was absolutely no chance of that happening. "What's up with you Ranma?" Yumi asked.

"Uh, I just remembered that I left Ryoga back on Kanakita with the instructions not to move. I'm gonna have to give someone a call as soon as we land to let them know what to do about him." Ranma settled back into the chair and closed her eyes ending the chance for anymore queries from her friend.

-Kanakita Island-

Ryoga lay fuming on the bed in the medical centre. 'Damn Ranma, how dare he tell me what to do?' He turned over and tried to get comfortable on the hard mattress, he'd been awake for nearly four hours now and he'd yet to show. 'Mind you that was scary; I don't think he's ever spoken to anyone like that before. I know he meant every word though I could see it in his eyes.'

"Good morning Hibiki-san, how do you feel today?"

Ryoga turned to face the young woman who'd addressed him. "Hi, yeah I'm feeling pretty good."

"Oh that's good to hear. I just received a call from Ranma, she's been dragged shopping for the day and it doesn't look like she'll be back until late." Rio smiled at the heavily built young man.

"Typical, trust Ranma to be dragged off by a pack of women. So I guess I'm stuck here all day." If he'd been fuming before he was even worse now.

"Well Ranma asked me to find something for you to do. You can of course stay here if you want or you can come with me."

"And do what all day; I ain't used to sitting still?"

"Well you could train with some of the martial artists here or you could go to the library and read. I'm sure we can find something for you to do that will interest you. I just wouldn't wander away if I were you. Ranma sounded pretty adamant that you stay here until she gets back."

"Probably, he can be pretty scary at times." He cast his mind back to the fight with Saffron and then some of the scuffles they'd had since. On an intellectual level he knew that he was outclassed by his rival but on the more visceral level where his emotions seethed and fought for escape he felt that Ranma had to pay for the hell that was his life. Half the battle he faced every day was to reconcile the two opposing views; it was a case of need versus ability.

"Ranma scary? I have to admit that I haven't seen anything in her behavior that would cause me to fear her."

"Why'd you keep calling him her? You do realize that he's a boy don't you? Or is he tricking everyone here."

"Well yes I know that, but she can't change at the moment so it's just easier. As for tricking everyone, I don't think it would be wise to tell anyone as he can't prove it." She stopped as the young man in front of her got a manic grin on his face.

'That's right I don't change anymore either, oh Akane, I will come to you a man.' He paused as he continued to think along the same lines, no more fear of her finding out about P-chan when he changed in front of her. Then he thought about being stuck in his cursed form and shuddered a little with a rarely felt bout of compassion for Ranma, of course that feeling died a quick death under the glare of all the other emotions that Ryoga felt where a certain pig-tailed martial artist was concerned.

"So what do you think you'd like to do?"

"If you don't mind I'd like to go and get some training done, I need to move."

"Why of course Ryoga-kun." She said with the easy familiarity of someone who dealt with large groups of people. Then she waited outside for him to get dressed and then led him out to the training ground. The square would be empty of people as most of them would have found other things to do, or those that were serious about the art had trained early or would come out later. With a martial artist of Ryoga's caliber in the square though that would soon change as those that were interested came to check out the second major martial artist to grace the island in under a week.

Those that studied the art despaired as they realized possibly for the first time how much they actually knew and now how much they still had to learn as the young man plowed through power based kata after kata.

Ryoga pushed everything when he trained, he had always been strong but since he'd been fighting Ranma on a semi constant basis (mainly due to his sense of direction) he'd come to the conclusion that no matter how hard he could hit it wouldn't help if Ranma could keep evading, after all it took more out of him to try to strike his opponent that it did for said opponent to dodge.

Somehow Ryoga managed to lose himself, though this time it was in the art and not in reality, and the hours just flew by as he pushed himself to streamline attacks that already looked blindingly fast to those that were watching. It was in the second hour of his workout that Ryoga hit a milestone, sunk in the peaceful feelings that training sometimes gave him he managed to remove the need for intellect from his actions and his frame began to blur as it moved even faster than ever before.

If Ryoga had been looking at his surroundings more he would have been surprised that most of those still watching were female and that many of them had little hearts in their eyes as they drooled over his masculine appearance. Poor little lost boy, to be surrounded by women who sought him and not be able to see it.

-Naha before noon-

The first thing that Ranma did after the plane touched down and they made their way into the airport terminal was to buy an 'I luv Naha' T-shirt, not because it was the touristy thing to do but because the flight had been plagued with hot water instances.

One man had sneezed two rows in front of her and for some reason the only person hit by his projectile coffee was Ranma; with pinpoint accuracy no less. Next was when an air-hostess had stumbled while the plane flew through some turbulence, this led to another stain on her already much abused clothes.

The very next thing she did was ask for a number to call Rio on the island and let her know what to do about Ryoga because she couldn't see him being happy about being left in the infirmary all day. After a quick call she'd 'let' the girls drag her off to her doom in the shops of Naha.

Overall the day was different to what Ranma was expecting; the clothes and accessories actually took second place to the main idea which seemed to be the spending of quality time with friends, as the girls talked up a storm. She learned more about them in the short time they spent in Naha that day than she knew about many of her so called friends at Furinkan High.

She also made the discovery that Leiji had no taste when it came to clothes, going for neon pink with frills nine times out of ten. In fact if it weren't for the Itsunagi twins Ranma shuddered to think what she'd currently be wearing. The latest offering sent Yumi from the room with her hands covering her mouth and her eyes sparkling as she suppressed her laughter.

"My god girl, where's the rest of the outfit?"

"What do you mean, isn't it a pretty dress?"

"That's not a dress, it's a tunic. Any shorter and we'd be able to see your navel." Sayuri exclaimed.

"It's not really that bad!" Leiji stomped her foot into the carpet in frustration. "Ranma they're picking on me, you like my dress don't you?" Her eyes started to tear up as she prepared to unleash the big guns.

"Umm, ah, I don't know nuthin'!!" Ranma waved her hands around as she fended off the temperamental chef (1).

"Don't pick on Ranma. She can't help it if the only taste you have is in your mouth."

"I dunno, that's the only place a chef needs taste I suppose." Ranma cast a quick look at her new friend to make sure she wasn't offended; to find out Leiji was already stomping back to the change room while muttering about 'so called friends'. Ranma exchanged glances with the other girls before Sayuri could answer the unasked question.

"Don't worry about it Ranma, we're just teasing and she knows it. Come on we better go see where Yumi got to, plus it's probably the only way to get Leiji out of here." Ranma just shrugged as she followed the others to the door.

Ten minutes later the five girls were meandering through the bustling streets of Naha, as they made their way to the next shop on Yumi's agenda.

"Hey Yumi where are we going next?"

"There's a little shop just a few streets over, they've just got some new stock in that I want to have a look at."

"Ah really, Be-bop has new stock? Alright what are we waiting for?" Ranma winced as the girls seemed to get excited, for Kami's sake it was just a shop. She'd soon learn that it wasn't just another shop; it turned out to be a lingerie store.

"Nu-uh there ain't no way you're getting me in there." Ranma backed away from the door.

"Oh come on Ranma what's wrong? You're not scared are you?"

"No way! But you still ain't getting me in there." He had really bad experiences in that kind of store, visions of Happosai, Nabiki and even her mother assailed her as she remembered some of the other times she'd been dragged into one.

Yumi paused as she looked at the expression on the quasi-girls face.

"Okay Ranma if that's the way you feel we won't make you." She began to understand how hard it would be to face certain things if you suddenly became the opposite gender.

"So what should we do instead?" Sayuki looked at the small group of her friends.

"Well I really wanted to check out their new stock." Her sister said.

"Don't let me stop you guys if you want to go in there."

"You sure? I mean it's not really that important."

"Really?" Ranma tried not to sound too disbelieving. "Yeah I'm sure, you guys go ahead. I'm sure I can find something to do." She turned her eyes across the street to see a group of men clustered around an open door way. The building had seen better days looking like it had been put up in the sixties and had seen hard service and little maintenance since. Then she smirked as she realized how she could earn some extra money.

"You're not thinking of going in there are you?"

"Ah I'll be alright; I don't reckon any of you girls should try following me in there though."

"No fear of that." Leiji shuddered as she considered being in there.

Across the street a group of men sat up and took notice as the girls walked past on the opposite side of the street.

"Hey guys you seein' what I'm a seein'?"

"Oh can it Steve, you ain't had no luck with the local ladies and that ain't gonna change."

"Heck Steve whyn't you give it a rest?" Steve just looked at his friends as if they belonged to another species.

"Nuh-uh ain't no way I'm giving up till I get me some."

"But you only got six months left on this rotation man, you ain't 'Got' none in the last eighteen months what makes ya think thas' gon' change?" Looking at the mulish expression on his friends face he gave up. "Ah Christ man, at least take Gavin to translate for you this time."

"Hey Gavin you wanna be my wingman?"

"Damn Steve ain't you learned nothing yet? I got better things to do than watch you crash and burn man."

"Nah but I'm fix'in to, and who says I'm gonna crash and burn? Now get yo butt in gear Gavin lets go get me a pretty lady." Steve looked down the street following the group he'd chosen to target with his eyes.

"Tell you what Doug, you grab his other arm and I'll grab this one."

"Yeah Gavin's right man leave the ladies alone." Doug latched on and with the aid of Gavin they held him back from following the young women who'd stopped across the street.

Ranma could feel a cold shiver caress her spine as they passed the small group of gaijin.

"I wonder what's with them." Across the street Gavin had finally gotten Steve in a headlock while the trapped mans arm was being pushed upwards to keep the young marine in place.

"No idea, who understands Americans?"

"Americans, how can you tell? They all look the same to me." Ranma looked across the street trying to figure out how Sayuri could tell.

"Yes, Americans; they're from one of the military bases the United States has on Okinawa."

"Oh, so what are they doin' here?"

"They get leave every so often and then they come into town to let off steam."

"That place is what I think it is isn't it?

"That, um, I think it's a gambling den. Father told me to stay away from it, nothing but trouble." She watched as Ranma's face lit up.

"That's alright; I'm real good at trouble." Then she turned at right angles to the direction they'd been heading and crossed the street.

"HSSS!!! Ranma get back here. Where the hell do you think you're going?"

"Oh I just wanna have some fun."

-o0o-

"Oi Gavin let go man, she's comin' over he'ar."

"So? She probably jus' wants to give you a piece of her mind." Never the less he let go of his friend as the gorgeous red-head pulled level with them. She looked neither left nor right as she made for the door to Miyagi's bar and grill, one of the more notorious places that the marines on leave chose to frequent. Just as she drew level she looked at them out of the corner of her eye and then turned her nose up, her hair did that little flick thing exposing the nape of her neck and three grown and hardened marines whimpered like kicked puppies.

"Oh man, did you see that? She's…..ah man…."

"Shut yo mouth Gavin she ain't lookin' at you!"

"Well if you want to get technical guys she isn't looking at any of us. She just went into Miyagi's."

"You're kidding! They'll eat her alive in there."

-o0o-

Yumi and co. watched as Ranma sauntered across the street and made her way past the marines they'd spotted earlier, whom straightened up as soon as she was close to them and seemed to be having an intense discussion even as she passed them. They saw her flick her hair to the side and almost groaned as she walked into the bar causing the marines to charge after her, the big blond guy managed to arrive at the same time as the black man and they jammed each other in the doorway.

"Yumi? Do you think she's going to be okay?"

"Who Ranma? Yeah, to be honest I think I'm more worried about the marines. They hit on her like they usually do and they're going to learn why it isn't a good idea to piss us Okinawan girls off."

"But we're not all Okinawan."

"True, but they don't know that." Yumi chuckled softly as she watched the doorway.

-o0o-

Ranma had just walked into a mans bar, there was no other way to put it. This was no dainty little glamour bar, the tables were built to stand up to brawls. In fact they looked like they might even last a few seconds in a Neriman bar fight. The atmosphere was smoky and there were certainly enough men in here. They weren't crammed in like sardines but there wasn't a lot of room at the bar that ran the full thirty metres of the room. Across from the bar there were all kinds of manly gambling games going on, from simple arm-wrestling to the much more complex 'see how many slabs of ice you can break with your fist, foot or head, whichever proved harder'. Ranma paused as she decided where to go from here; the card games were out and so was roulette as one used skills she didn't have and the other was a matter of total luck. Looking around again she found that her way had been blocked by one of the few women in the bar.

"Get out of here girl!! This is not the place for your kind!" She moved towards and tried to push the tiny red-head assured by the difference in sizes that the girl would run. She was surprised when her wrist was caught with great ease and then she noticed the expression on the girls face and shuddered.

"Back off, you don't wanna mess with me." Ranma snarled as she released the heavily made-up woman's hand and watched as the wide eyed woman stepped back into the crowd never once removing said eyes from the young woman before her. Not too many people noticed the confrontation but those that did had started to chant 'Cat fight!' over and over until the tension left. Of course it was just pure dumb luck that Ranma wasn't as good at English as Hinako would like and thus didn't understand what was being said. Though it should be noted that Ranma could scream cat in at least seven other languages.

Then Ranma went into her excited little girl persona as she approached the bench where the ice break was being held. She watched as an American got up and struck a pose before trying to ram his fist through the ice, then winced as she saw that he wasn't holding his hand right, 'yep that's what you get for doin' stupid stuff.'

"Baka." She muttered under her breath. She turned around as she felt someone come up on her left and noticed that it was the big black man who'd been loitering by the door.

Now Steve didn't know much in the way of Japanese but one of the first words you learned was baka, in fact his instructor had called him by that appellation so many times that he thought the Corp. had changed his name.

The man she'd been watching had broken the first slab of ice but his wrist wasn't braced right and he struck the second at an angle, that one cracked but it didn't break. Steve watched as he pulled back his hand and cradled it as it started to throb badly. 'So that's how she likes it, she wants manly just watch this.'

"Yo Masahisa, set 'em up for me."

"You got it man, you sure though, you only got three the last time?" Masahisa Ishida glanced at the big man and then followed the quick glance at the young woman in the crowd. "Okay; you feeling lucky today?"

"Yeah I've got some good vibes goin' on man." Steve rolled his shoulders and then his neck psyching himself up the bones made that odd cracking sound that you always see in the movies. When he stepped past Ranma he spared her a glance as if to say 'watch this'. Walking up to Masahisa and handed him the fifty dollars it required to enter and then took up his stance as the other man readied the 'Ice break' for its next challenger.

"A'RIGH' COME TO PAPA!!!" He roared as he pulled his fist back and slammed it into the ice, no finesse but plenty of power, the first and second three inch thick slabs of ice scattered as his fist plowed through them then just as it seemed the third one had resisted his punch he rolled his shoulder a little and added his bulk into it. The fourth slab didn't smash but it definitely broke into pieces, though the fifth slab was never in any danger.

"YEAH THA'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' 'BOUT!!" Steve bounced on the balls of his feet as he raised his hands above his head like the winner in a boxing match.

"Nice shot man, here you go, you the winner! Look at this folks we have a winner!!" Steve looked around the bar making sure everyone could see him collect his hundred dollars, not bad for a few seconds work, of course if he were anything like the other winners they'd drink their money at the bar or try again later when they were drunk and knowing that they had beaten the three mark before they'd throw money at Masahisa until they ran dry trying to win more.

Steve on the other hand was only trying to impress the young lady who was looking at him with a tiny smirk at the corners of her mouth, causing him to frown for a second before he dismissed it.

Ranma watched as the big man crowed about breaking four of the ice slabs, she let out a snort as she tried to stop herself from laughing in his face. Time for him to earn a little extra cash, hiding her hands so that no one would see the calluses of a seasoned martial artist she stepped up to Masahisa, trying not to smile too much at his greased back hairstyle…'Damn he looks like a rocker from the fifties or a yakuza man. Probably a wannabe in either case.'

Masahisa was looking around the bar for Seiji, he felt it was time for their ringer to make an appearance and thus make it look easy; after all he wasn't as big or muscular as Steve. What he was, was a trained man, he could break six slabs with a little to spare. Not that he would ever break more than four unless there was heavy gambling on the outcome. After Steve made his way back into the noisy crowd he finally saw his man and signaled that he should come over now, then he set about fixing the 'Ice break'. The next time he looked up he found himself face to face with a mop of red hair, looking down he found an elfin face with the most startling blue eyes he'd ever seen, it took him a second to realize that she was probably from Kanakita, he'd heard they had a lot of red-heads over there.

"Yes can I help you miss?"

"Um, can anyone have a go at this?" Ranma really tried to sound hesitant and meek as she peered around him at the guys setting up for the next person to try their luck; acting like a total nitwit tended to better the odds in the gambling pool. Masahisa looked into her eyes and took a wild guess that he was being played; though for the life of him he couldn't see how, she was so slight it was almost laughable that she wanted to even try.

"Sure little lady, anyone can try, now you understand that if you don't break at least three you lose your seed money."

"Seed money?" Ranma tilted her head.

"Yeah it costs fifty dollars or five thousand yen to play this game." He flashed his teeth in a genuine smile as she looked at him again.

"Oh, that much? Um, ah…" She twirled the end of her pig-tail with her fingers as she seemed to think about what he'd said. "Okay, I really want to try this!"

"That's the spirit. If you want to wait for a moment though the man behind you has first dibs." Ranma turned around and found herself looking up at a Japanese man, to her practiced eye he looked like solid teak, the muscles in his forearms were well disguised but not enough to fool her. 'Oh so that's the way it is.'

"Okay I'll just watch for now." Masahisa nodded as he watched the girl, for she couldn't be anymore than sixteen as she stepped back to the spectator line.

"Hi Seiji you want to have another go huh?" There was a subtle shift in the crowd as Seiji Horibuchi stepped up to the mark. The crowd watching doubled and waited for him to make his move, he kept things held up as he stretched, after all he was waiting to see which way the betting pool was leaning, after a minute or so Masahisa signaled that he'd need to break five slabs which was unusual because the Americans in the bar were wont to underestimate him thinking that size really mattered.

Ranma watched as the man limbered up, she wasn't sure but she thought she saw a tiny hand signal, though she could have been wrong. Rushing off she placed a last second bet at eight to one odds then waited for the payoff. No one paid any attention as she collected eighty thousand yen and then came back to the spectator's line to wait for her turn. No one really thought much about her at all except that she was cute, and maybe after a few drinks they could take her some where else.

"So you want to try little lady?" Masahisa waved the diminutive red-head over.

"Yes, he made it look so easy." Several of the bar staff and some of the marines who understood Japanese better started to laugh at the naïve young girl.

"Sure it is, now step up to the mark and take your best shot." He smiled as she moved to the mark for a left hander and took up a stance that made him uneasy for a moment until he noticed that she had it subtly wrong, she might break a few more than he thought she would but it wouldn't be enough to pay a lot if anything.

The more slabs broken the higher the payout, Seiji had made a great show of taking his two hundred dollars in winnings, the scale was a sliding scale, break only one or two slabs and you lost your money, break three and you broke even, four was worth double your money and five quadrupled it. Six gave out five hundred dollars and seven was for a thousand, break eight and you'd double that, nine would net you five big ones, but ten was the big draw, everyone dreamed of taking the ten thousand dollars that you could win for that one.

Except for Ranma of course, who felt that dreaming was for losers, there was no dream there was only do. The second it was only a dream he'd already lost, or so Genma had always told him and it 'seemed' like another piece of sage advice from the old man, kind of an oxymoron in Ranma's opinion putting sage and the old man in the same sentence. In fact the only sage his father had really shown any interest in was in his food.

Of course running this kind of scam in china like they had, had been a mistake, the Triads didn't take kindly to people actually winning the big money. The Yakuza on the other hand tended to be a little more subtle than the Triads; so she should be safe. Fifty axe wielding men chasing you through the streets tended to garner too much attention for the tastes of the average Japanese crime lord.

Ranma sized up the slabs of ice, at three inches thick and spaced two inches apart it would take a great deal of force to break them all, fortunately she was only trying to break four on her first try. Gauging the power needed she moved almost in slow motion for her; then watched impassively as the first two slabs exploded into tiny crystals of ice as her ki pounded through them the third shattered and then the fourth broke apart before she brought her hand to a stop resting on the fifth cracked slab.

Masahisa watched in stunned surprise as the red-head jumped up and down waving her arms excitedly.

"Yay I won. Sugoi!!!" She carried on for a little while before turning to the man running the 'ice break' and held out her hand. He even smiled as she took the money, the reason being was that no one had even dared to believe she'd break four and thus no one bet higher than three. He'd just made a killing in the betting pools.

"Whoa nice strike." He turned to the crowd. "There you go folks it's not about size, anyone can do it. Step on up and give it a go." Most of the marines in the bar were going to have a try at the 'ice break' that night because she'd managed to show them up. If they thought it was bad now it would only get worse in a few minutes.

Ranma stepped back into the crowd as a sudden inrush of people headed for the ice. "Suckas!" She muttered to herself.

"Hello little lady. That was a mighty fine punch you have there." Ranma being an indifferent student for most of her life only picked up about half of what he'd said, unfortunately for him it was the first half.

"You back off! No you interest!" Ranma glared at the big black man who'd gone before her. Overtones of Xian Pu anyone?

"Whoa, whoa I didn't mean nuthin' by it. I just like the way you broke the ice." He gestured towards the 'ice break'. To be truthful he was miffed as much as any of the other men in the room, he'd put everything he had into that punch and he'd broken as many as a girl who weighed a third as much as he did. "How'd you do that?" Then he scowled as Gavin walked over and greeted the young woman in fluent Japanese.

"Hello. Don't mind my friend here; he's just surprised that you broke as many slabs as he did." He smiled as her eyes lit up as she understood what the big man was trying to say to her, she'd been about to pound him into the floor for calling her a little lady.

"What'd you say Gavin?"

"I was just telling her what you said."

"That's okay then, just you make sure you tell her what I say."

"Not a prob buddy."

"Ask her how she did that, I mean…" Gavin turned back to the red-head to ask her and found that she'd moved away back towards the 'ice break'

"So you're back for more huh?" Masahisa smiled at the young girl in front of him, then he frowned slightly as she repeated his usual signal for six slabs. She couldn't have seen what he'd done with Seiji could she?

"Yes, it's fun." Ranma smiled at him and the crowd a little wiser smiled with her. They were gonna bet she could do it again, some even gave her as high as five slabs. Ranma shifted her weight and took the correct position this time and the feeling that Masahisa had on her first attempt assailed him again.

Steve watched as she smacked her fist through the ice once again and like the rest of the people in the bar was stunned, as she managed to break six of them. That was an unheard of number of slabs and it didn't matter how big the person doing it was.

"Whoa!! Momma!! How'd she do that Gavin?" Doug had joined his friends in time to watch her, she'd seemed to blur as her hand went though the slabs like a knife.

"Don't ask me, I cain't even break three, an' Steve here only managed four." Steve was lost for words and just stood staring at the little girl who kept surprising him.

Funnily enough Masahisa was still smiling even as he handed her, her second winnings. Fifty thousand yen changed hands, large to small. The owner of the small hand was grinning like a Cheshire furry thing even though she didn't even think such a thing. Masahisa was smiling because once again he'd cleaned up in the betting pool, and Ranma smiled because that was the way to walk out with everyone feeling good, make sure the house cleans up even if you take the big prize. She didn't even bother counting the money; as she headed back to the bar and ordered a coke, as counting it would have been insulting.

Sitting at the bar she contented herself with taking sips of her drink and playing with the tassel that one of the girls had put in her hair on the shopping trip. The crowd around her watched her speculatively wondering what she might do next. Seiji Horibuchi was also watching the young woman, he wasn't fooled by her now, he thought he knew what she was capable of, he just wanted to see if he could learn anything from her.

Ranma decided that it was time that she left, but first she had to take the major prize, that million yen would sure come in handy. Nabiki would flip as well; up till now the 'Ice Queen' had only been doing small potato scams when she could have been doing much better with Ranma helping rather than resenting her.

The crowd went quiet as she walked back up to the stage and faced Masahisa.

"I'd like to make one last try, if that's alright with you?" Surreptitiously she made the hand signal that she thought would tell him she was heading for ten slabs and then took her stance Masahisa knew what to expect she'd said she was going to break all ten. To his surprise she took a stance to the opposite side of the ice this time facing away from the ice.

'What the hell is she up to?'

Resting back on her right heel she pointed her left foot so only the toes touched the ground, her supple body swayed slightly to the right even as she began to swivel to the left on her heel. The toes of her left foot described a circle on the floor still not making strong contact, then she swayed her body back to the left adding even more force to the blow that was developing. Once she'd completed the half circle the fist that she'd been bringing to bear gained even more momentum as she stepped forward off her right heel in a leap that took her fist through the first eight slabs without even pausing, the ninth gave only slight resistance and the target slab seemed to explode as she unleashed the second phase of the blow by rolling her shoulder through the strike. When her shoulder struck the frame for the 'Ice Break' the first three slab holders crumpled like tissue paper.

Ranma left Miyagi's the same way she entered looking neither left nor right. The only difference was the color of her face which was a lovely shade of rose. The crowd had been totally different as she was leaving, she'd been elevated to the status of urban legend for the marines, received no less than three marriage proposals and the number of improper proposals had been off the scale, only one of which she'd felt the need to respond to and he would likely be walking straight in a couple of days. There'd also been an invitation to never return to Miyagi's bar and grill if she had the intention of competing at any of the bar games delivered by a still smiling Masahisa.

"You done good kid, it's good for business like this. You take care." In a quiet aside.

-Outside-

Ranma walked back across the street to meet up with her friends, looking around she failed to see them.

"Man! They must still be in the store. Ah crud," With great trepidation our hero stepped into familiar territory. Inside it was the usual display of lace and satin that sent his heartbeat soaring, not because he pictured anyone wearing it but because he always expected to hear the word 'Sweeto!' exclaimed with joy as the geriatric master of anything goes made off with as much of it as he could. Which always upset Nabiki. By the end of the first year they all knew where to send the bills, and when Nabiki lost money she'd usually take it out of his hide.

Of course Happosai didn't do that anymore, but as they say 'Old habits die hard', and in the case of Nabiki they died harder, were buried at a crossroad and had their heart burned to ash and the ashes spread on a river.

Sticking her head around the door she couldn't see any of the girls in the store so she stepped inside and asked the clerk if her friends were still here.

"Ah you would be Ranma is that correct?"

"Yes that's me."

"Your friends told me to give you a message; they had to go on to make an appointment at this address." She handed him a card with the name of a store on it, at which she groaned. "They thought you might like to catch up with them there."

"Not really, but I suppose I gotta." Ranma was suddenly feeling very hard put upon. "Thanks for the help."

The clerk watched the young woman leave the store and sighed; she'd earned good commissions on the other girls' purchases and had hopes of the same from this Ranma. Oh well she'd just have to be happy with what she got.

Outside Ranma had hit another dilemma taxi or roofhop; both had their advantages roof hopping would probably be faster, except she didn't know the way, and also cost less, but taxis were definitely less conspicuous. Finally deciding that she would rather not stand out anymore than she already did as a number of men across the street waved to her and wolf-whistled Ranma flagged down the first taxi she saw, and was miffed when it ignored her, after the third drove past her she decided to take matters into her own hands and managed to catch the next taxi by the expedient of catching hold of the rear of the vehicle and lifting until the rear wheels lost traction. The panicked driver slammed his foot on the accelerator and was puzzled when nothing happened then he looked into his rear view mirror and saw the red-head who'd been making rude gestures at the cars as they passed.

He jumped out of the car and confronted Ranma. "What is your problem lady, if it ain't enough that you're making rude gestures at us now you're picking up cars?"

"Hey I just wanna lift to this address; I've been trying to flag a taxi down for a while now."

"Eh! You don't use a gesture like that when you want a taxi. Just wave your hand around or whistle, you make gestures like that at us and we'll think your looking for trouble."

"Hey I'll have you know I don't need to look for trouble. For some reason it always finds me."

"That I can believe. So now that we've cleared that up would you like to put the back of my car down?" He blinked as it sank in that she was holding the car up with no apparent strain. "Uh, miss." It never hurt to be polite to someone who could forget they were holding up a car while they talked to you.

"Oh! Uh, yeah; sorry about that." Ranma gave the burly man a sheepish look as she placed the car down gently.

"And where was it you wanted to go?"

Instead of answering she thrust the card out at him, there was no way that Ranma would ever say the name of the place where her friends had gone.

"Does that say…Well I have to say you don't look the type."

"I ain't!! I'm just meeting friends there."

"Amazing, well get in I haven't got all day you know." Ranma was barely in the cab before he mashed his foot on the accelerator and went through the gears like a professional race car driver.

Having gone no more than three hundred metres the taxi pulled into the curb and the driver punched the button. "There you go, that'll be eight hundred yen."

"What! I could have walked this far, why didn't you tell me?"

"Hey it ain't my job to tell you what to do. Anyway you're the one who insisted you wanted a taxi, you could have asked someone ya know?"

Ranma shook her head for a moment then reached into her pocket and pulled out her winnings from Miyagi's.

"Holy….An' you were complaining about eight hundred yen?"

Ranma refused to bite and just handed over the money before getting out.

"Heya Ranma what'd you get a taxi for?"

"Oh hi Sayuri how's it going?"

"Not bad, the others are inside."

"What and you're not with'em?"

"Nope, I don't need any of that stuff."

"I hear ya, what is it with some girls and having that kind of thing done?"

"Dunno, I like to keep my hair short, and it takes too long to get calluses for someone to threaten to take care of them with a pumice stone."

"Eh?"

The front door to the business opened and Yumi stepped out.

"Is she here yet? Oh hi Ranma come on in." Ranma's pig-tail waved from side to side as she shook her head vigorously. "Oh come on, don't be such a wuss."

"Why do I gotta if she don't?"

"Because she's tried it and decided she doesn't like it. You haven't tried it have you?"

"Um if I said yes….." Ranma looked up at the reclining rabbit over the door.

"I wouldn't believe you no. You don't have to do anything too bad, though I would suggest the full body massage."

"Oooh I'd listen to her Ranma, that's one of the few things I do like about this place."

"Then why ain't you comin' in if it's so good?"

"Well I blew my allowance on that dress earlier and then there was the subscription to 'Bujutstu Weekly' (1). I can't afford to go in there."

"Do you want to? Go in there I mean? I will if you do."

"You mean it? I'll pay you back I promise."

"Ah don't worry about it; I won this at Miyagi's." She pulled the stack of yen notes out of her pocket. "So I think I can afford their prices."

"Kami, Ranma what did you do? Rob the place."

"Nah that's my pop's style not mine. I entered this 'ice break' thing and won the top prize of a million yen."

"What are we waiting for, come on Sayuri before she changes her mind." She grabbed Ranma by the hand and started to drag her into the store.

"Hold on Yumi, I ain't a grab toy you know. I can even walk under my own power, so could you stop dragging me around?"

"Uh sorry Ranma, I just get excited sometimes."

"Yeah I kinda noticed. While we're at it I ain't some live doll for you to play dress up with either, or a make over project. I ain't real comfortable with this stuff and you 'should' know why." Then she stalked into the store.

"You guys alright?"

"No. I think I blew it with Ranma, I just let my enthusiasm get the better of me and now she's mad at me."

"Ah come on Yumi, she knows you didn't mean any harm. Just apologise and try not to be so pushy in the future." Sayuri put her arm around her friend as she gave into the sniffles. "Now dry your eyes and let's go in and rescue her from the staff."

Yumi tried to stifle the weak smile that attempted to break through. "Okay."

-Meanwhile inside-

"Welcome to 'Cutie Rabbit Bun-buns Beauty parlour'"

"Oh Kami I so did not want to hear that said out loud. What's wrong with you people?"

"What? We've been called that for the last fifty years. Named after Usagi Manetoro the proprietor of 'Cutie…..'"

"Okay, okay!! I got it the first time, just do me a favour? Just don't say that around me ever again. Ever, you hear me!" Ranma's vehement request drew the attention of the stores owner.

"Ah hello, you must be Yumi's little friend. She's been waiting for you to arrive."

"Yeah, I saw her outside."

"Ah, here she comes. Good afternoon Yumi, and why, if it isn't Sayuri." The genuine smile on her face lit up the room.

"Uh Ranma, I'm sorry for pushing you like that."

"Tha's alright Yumi-chan it ain't like it didn't always happen to me before. Except then it was people wanting to marry me."

"You're kidding?!"

"Nah, nah, straight up. The real problem was that most of them had legitimate claims due to my father making agreements with their parents."

"That's….That's despicable, how could he?"

"Who O-yaji? Easy, it's called stupidity."

Usagi broke into the conversation for a moment. "So what can I do for you ladies today?" She missed the wince on Ranma's face at the mention of ladies.

"Um well I want a facial, and I'm going to have my hair and nails done. I think I managed to talk Ranma into the full massage package," she smiled at the small victory she'd gained.

"Yeah alright but just the massage you understand? Oh and the same for Sayuri over there."

"Really? The 'full' massage package, are you sure?"

"Yeah I said I would and Ranma Sao….Ranma always keeps her promises." No one noticed the slight hesitation over the 'her' in her last statement.

In Ranma's opinion the smile that lit up her friends face made it worth it to her. In the last months he'd spent in Nerima it seemed that no one appreciated anything he did for them no matter how hard it was or how much it hurt him they just seemed to shrug it off like 'Oh it's you, so you did that? What for?'

Out of all of the Tendo's only Kasumi thanked him for doing things for her, and towards the end Nabiki for some reason seemed to be trying to be more pleasant towards him. He still wasn't sure what that had been about but there had to be something in it for Nabiki. The 'Ice Queen' never did something for no reason. Then there was his mother, he'd do little things for her and she always thanked him like it was the most precious thing that had ever been done for her. Maybe it was a little over-compensation for all the years they'd spent apart but Ranma didn't mind. The only other two who appreciated his help were Dr. Ono Tofu and Elder Khu Lon; they'd been working together for most of the previous year to both perfect and even to devise new attacks that the Amazons could use. The oft quoted 'The Emperor of China feared this technique three thousand years ago.' Would soon be replaced with a date much closer to now, not that it was quite as impressive, try it, 'Hah and this is a technique that I came up with last Tuesday or maybe it was Wednesday, ah heck well it scared the proverbial outta my pops.' I don't know it just lacks a certain verve.

Ranma managed to catch the last of the conversation between Yumi and Usagi, with Ranma thinking to herself, 'Who the hell names their children Usagi?'

"So Sayuki's in room 1, I'm in room 2, Ranma you're in room 3, next door to Sayuri in five. Leiji's already in four. That's about right isn't it Usagi."

"Sounds good to me. Okay Sayuri and Ranma come with me please. Now you may or may not know but we prefer that the customer has a shower before we start. Especially when it's been as hot and humid as it has today. Is that okay with you girls?" At the murmured yeses she gestured to a door. "This is room three Ranma, if you don the yukata after your shower and then lay face-down on the table someone will be with you shortly. Sayuri if you'll do the same in the next room please."

She waited for their agreement then watched as they entered the rooms.

Ranma entered not really knowing what to expect, most of the massage he'd ever had had been with him on a futon, this room was four metres on a side with a narrow padded table with a hole down at one end, along the back wall there were row upon row of dark glass bottles filled with what Ranma wasn't sure. The shower she was looking for was in the front of the room furthest away from the door. Walking over she began to undress, no matter that she felt clean, it seemed to be a condition of the parlour so she would do it.

Five minutes later after a refreshing shower; Ranma trailed her finger along the leather padded massage table. "Well thinkin' about things never helped me before." She lay facedown on the table dressed only in the light bathrobe the parlour provided. She could see the floor through the hole in the table.

Ranma really wasn't sure what to expect but she tried to relax while she waited. After a minute or so the door opened quietly and a young woman entered the room.

"Hi I'm Sachiko, is this your first time here?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Oh no, not at all. I just don't remember seeing you before. Just so you know a little about me, I'm a fully qualified masseuse. I've been working here for five years; I've also been apprenticed with a local Reiki master for two years. My job here is to help you relax and to relieve the tension in your muscles. It doesn't hurt that the oils I use are good for your skin either." She chuckled and Ranma felt some of her unease at the thought that some woman was going to lay her hands on her body leave her.

"Now just give me a moment, if you could sit up a little." She helped Ranma slip her arms from the robe and allowed it to pool around her waist before asking him to lay back.

"Relax….Let the tension flow away." Sachiko murmured quietly as she started long even strokes down either side of Ranma's spine, causing her to wriggle a little.

Ranma was mortified as a giggle bubbled up and escaped as she exclaimed. "Hey that tickles!"

"Sorry about that. I always start light with people I don't know. It's better to start that way than the other way around; it's a lot harder to hurt someone like this. I really don't want to hurt you."

"Heh, ain't no way you can hurt me. Go as hard as you like." Ranma smirked at the thought that this masseuse could hurt her.

"If you're sure." She straightened up both her back and arms until Ranma grunted, then backed off slightly thinking she'd reached the red-heads limit.

"Keep goin' Sachiko that was startin' ta feel good." Just a slight murmur as she relaxed further.

"Okay." This time she leaned harder and started to work in deep on muscles like nothing she'd ever felt before. She started using Reiki in an effort to penetrate muscle that rapidly became denser in response to the pressure she applied. At first it had felt like she was kneading clay but now it was starting to feel more like velvet over steel.

"Um, Ranma what are you doing? You're supposed to be relaxing." Sachiko frowned slightly as her fingers skimmed over Ranma's skin.

"Huh?" Ranma blinked a few times. "Wha'd ya mean? I'm about as relaxed as I've ever been." She sighed and allowed her head to drop back to the table. Sachiko had to admit that she certainly looked relaxed; Ranma sighed again and seemed to melt even further into the padding. The thing was that the muscles were still as hard as rock. 'I don't know what it is but maybe sensei will.'

"Ranma I'm just going to get my sensei. I have to admit I don't know what's happening here."

"Huh? What are you talkin' about?"

"You said to press harder and that's fine, you look really relaxed."

"Yeah I am."

"The thing is the harder I press the harder your muscles seem to get. I'm pressing as hard as I can here and I'm barely even dimpling the skin."

Ranma looked at her for a moment then reached back and pressed against her back she could feel her fingertip sinking into the relaxed muscle. She raised an eyebrow in query. (2)

"Huh? What the deuce? Now I really need to call sensei over' he needs to see this!"

"Hey, ain't no guy going to see me like this!!" (3)

"Please, this could be really important." The young masseuse wrung her hands as close as she'd ever come to pleading.

"To who? Eh?"

"To….Um, er."

"So you get somethin' outta this but what do I get?"

"Aren't you the least bit curious? Look try this. Push your finger into your bicep."

"What for?"

"I want to show you something, please." Getting even closer to pleading.

"Ah you ain't gonna cry are ya?" At the shimmer of tears in Sachiko's eyes Ranma caved faster than a house of cards in a gale force wind. "Alright, alright just don't cry!!" Ranma watched as the tears disappeared almost instantly.

"Really!" Sachiko asked with an ear to ear grin.

"Hey I said I would din't I?" Ranma grumbled at the girl then reached up and did as she'd been asked. The muscle did exactly what she expected as she pressed down. "So? Now what?"

"Okay, my turn." Sachiko pressed on a single spot with Ranma watching carefully. Sachiko's finger sank to the same depth as her own had nothing special so far and she told Sachiko as much.

"Hold on a moment, I just wanted you to see it as I did. I'll move my hands now and apply more pressure." Her fingers sank a little further as she put more weight onto the spot and slowly started circling the area. Now she had Ranma's full attention as the depth she attained shrank until they barely made a dimple in the skin.

"Huh???" Ranma looked through the hole in the table to find Sachiko standing up on the very tips of her toes bearing almost all her weight on Ranma, then she met the curiosity filled eyes of the young masseuse.

"You wanna see something really interesting? This is what happens when I use Reiki." Suddenly the dimpling effect disappeared and the skin became smooth. Ranma looked at her arm using ki sight and let out a gasp.

"What the hell? I think you'd better call your sensei. I ain't never seen that happen before."

"Isn't it cool?"

"I'll let you know when I figure out what's happening. He still ain't checkin' out my body!"

"Not a problem Ranma-sama." She bowed to Ranma and left the room at speed before the customer could change her mind.

Ranma just shook her head then subsided back onto the table to wait for whatever happened next. 'Why ain't life ever simple for me? Ah well at least I can think about some of that stuff Sayuki was telling me.'

She cast her mind back to the point in her day when the self professed computer nerd physically dragged her into a computer store.

She'd admitted that window shopping wasn't as bad as she thought it was going to be and had promptly found that her friends were wont to take that as an open invitation to drag her into any store that took their fancy. The computer shop had actually been one of the better ones until she'd nearly found herself the confused owner of the latest dual processor, dual graphics card system that the store created. She was informed by an excited sales woman that this wasn't just a computer; it was a monster of the gaming community then rattled of a bunch of numbers and bench-marks that Ranma had no chance of understanding. He'd almost said yes just to stop the influx of useless information, but had only indicated polite interest as she didn't know enough about them to own one; well that and the fact that she had significantly less than the purchase price in her possession.

He had to admit that Sayuki's enthusiasm was contagious, some of the things Nabiki had been trying to teach her had been a lot clearer after spending half an hour in a store with her. Enough to get her thinking. When she left it was with a non-committal "We'll see."

Then she stopped thinking about the day she'd had to think about her current situation, if Sachiko were to bring back an experienced ki practitioner like she promised then Ranma would have to carefully think about what she could reveal as there were some things she should probably keep to herself. A lot of the stuff she knew was borrowed from other people who wouldn't appreciate her giving away their secrets. 'What to tell them? Well the Bakusai Tenketsu is out, Khu Lon would have a fit if I told 'em how to do that. Ah crud!! That's what was goin' on, she activated my ki armour when she pressed harder, and then made it worse when she used ki on me. Right the best way to avoid this is to not be here when they get back.' Ranma got up and grabbed her clothes, rushing into them and started heading for the door.

"Here it is sensei; you've got to see this to believe it. It's like…I don't know what it's like but it's intense. Her muscles go like steel when you press on her skin!"

"Slow down Sa-chan where's the fire?"

"Ranma meet my sensei, Peter Devon…….." She blinked as she looked into the currently empty room, "…Hmmm where'd she go?"

"I really wouldn't have a clue dear." He squinted as he felt something pull at the edges of his 'sight'.

"She said she wanted to see you!"

"Oh well people have been known to change their minds, and we can't force her to speak to me if she doesn't want to." He looked away from the massage table for long enough to have his eyes revert to normal before turning back and examining the table closely. 'That's odd, hmm I wonder.'

"I'll tell you what, why don't you go and look for her? She can't have gone far, but remember don't try and push her into coming back if she doesn't want to." He pushed his spectacles back to the bridge of his nose as he regarded his protégé.

"Okay sensei I'll just ask her friends if they've seen her."

"You do that Sachiko, I'll just wait here for you." Two pairs of eyes watched as the young woman left the room.

"You can come out now. Please? Whatever that is you're doing it's starting to really hurt my eyes." He blinked a few times as a young red-head appeared as if from thin air and he gave a low appreciative whistle. "That's a very effective technique you have there young lady."

"Maybe; but I should have used the advanced version. That'll teach me to underestimate you Devon-san." Ranma bowed slightly.

"What's the difference between the two?"

"Well the one I used allows me to disappear but leaves a bubble where there's no ki at all."

"I see, or rather I don't. So that's what was making my eyes sting; I could feel something was wrong with my ki sight, just couldn't figure out what."

"Yeah probably, the second one mimics the natural ki in the room, as close as I can get it."

"Ah just so, you know I probably still would have seen you."

"How'd you figure that?"

"Well you see the distortion in the air could have been eye-strain on my part, but the fact is that you were sitting on a padded leather table and I could see where you were sitting. So maybe I would have seen it, maybe I wouldn't but the fact is neither technique is fool-proof." She took a quick look at the bench and then slapped her forehead.

"Oh Kami I really messed that up didn't I?"

"No not really. I'd say you just didn't want to speak with me, which is something I can respect. You're obviously a ki-adept. You've got extraordinary control for one so young. I'd be surprised if you weren't keeping secrets."

"It wasn't that, I mean I got plenty of techniques that are my own, the technique Sachiko discovered ain't one of 'em."

"I understand, but I hope you don't mind an old man speculating?"

"Go right ahead, but I ain't gonna deny or confirm anythin'."

"That's quite all right. First I would assume you're a martial artist and that's how you became a ki-adept. Second, the technique that my protégé uncovered is some kind of ki enhanced armour. And third I don't know if I believe that you're responsible for any ki techniques, I mean you're all of what? Fifteen?"

Ranma blinked for a moment as he took in what the elder man was saying. "Hold on a second, for your information I'm eighteen, and as for the rest I don't need your approval or belief." Peter Devon sat back and regarded the young woman quietly.

"As you say it's none of my business if you are or aren't. So humour me, how close was I?"

"Pretty good, except for telling my age and the technique thing."

"I also notice now that you're not hiding that you have some of the largest ki reserves I've ever had the privilege of seeing. I'd love to know how you developed them."

"I've been working with ki for seven or eight years now so they've built up a fair bit, but just so you know I ain't exactly trying to produce ki at the moment."

"Oh? Produce ki? What an interesting concept." He blinked a few times.

Ranma moved to sit on the table. "You're a Reiki master right?"

"Well yes I am, I've been practicing for nearly twenty-five years now."

"How'd that happen? I mean it couldn't have been easy getting a sensei back then."

"True, let's see I came out to Tokyo about thirty years ago. I was a professor at Cambridge," At Ranma's confused look he added, "In England. It's quite prestigious don't you know. Anyway, I taught Japanese language and culture. In my wisdom I decided I would come to Japan and see the culture for myself, took a years sabbatical and never went back. You see I thought I knew the language and the customs. Heh, it turned out that my language would have been fine if I'd arrived in the early parts of the nineteenth century and the customs I knew would have been fine at the Imperial court, not for everyday usage." He smiled as he reminisced about those days, a pompous professor who arrived in Tokyo and treated everyone as if they were the Emperor, of course it took a long time to understand that they weren't smiling with him but laughing at him.

"So after a couple of years I learnt to speak properly and didn't treat everyone like they were royalty or some great lord. Yes you might laugh but it wasn't that funny to me."

"So it turned out you were still considered a gaijin?"

"You have no idea. I immersed myself in the culture, visited temples and historic sites and tried to fit it all together. I even tried martial arts for a while, but decided I didn't like hurting other people. Actually I got tired of people, usually much younger than me, kicking my butt. I believe that's the vernacular I wanted."

"So how'd you get into Reiki?"

"Hold on I'm getting there. After a particularly brutal session where the sensei used me as a punching bag, I don't think he liked me for some reason, one of the other students recommended a place that could fix me up."

"Uh-huh. So you went to see a Reiki practitioner?"

"That's right. At first I thought it was just especially effective therapeutic massage. Then I noticed that my bruises went away much quicker. I asked the man what Reiki was and he gave me some very basic notion of what it was all about. Sounded like superstitious twaddle to me though and I scoffed at him."

"I'll bet that went down well."

"That's an understatement. It really didn't seem to phase him at all though once he got over his pique, he kept treating me week after week whether I believed him or not, though he got better results when I started to believe him as well. That was when I decided to become a Reiki practitioner myself. The rest as they say is history."

"So you've been developing your ki reserves for nearly thirty years right?"

"Oh, no. It's been more like twenty-five years; it took quite a long time for me to find anyone willing to teach me the art of Reiki. Then there was the fact that he taught the traditional way so it was another couple of years before I made any kind of real progress."

"And Okinawa?"

"Mmmm? Oh that's because I followed my sensei when he returned to his hometown."

"Right, well I gotta say your ki reserves ain't that large for someone who's been practicing as long as you have."

"Well I never!"

"Nah that's right, you probably ain't, but that's alright. You've got plenty of ki compared to normal people, and more than enough to handle your normal work-load. I'd say you only have to push yourself once or twice a month or so. Am I right? There are only some times when you get really tired?"

"Well yes I suppose so, what are you getting at?"

"Well I can teach you some meditation techniques if you like that will regenerate your ki quicker so you won't get tired, an' I can make sure you aren't hurting yourself with it at the same time."

"But it's my own ki, I don't think it can hurt me can it?"

"You'd be amazed at the number of people who think that way and for your average person who lives an average life I suppose it's true. It's surprising but the number of people who actually try to generate ki is really small, I'd say less than one in a thousand martial artists attempt it let alone truly believe in it, most reiki practitioners the good ones anyway, about one percent of traditional healers."

"Really? I would have thought it would be higher."

"Possibly, I don't really know, that's just my feeling on it."

"Ah I see."

"Most people I've seen don't actively try to generate ki."

"What do you mean actively?" Peter Devon frowned at the young woman then his eyes widened as she started to glow.

"Like this, I'm not actually trying very hard at the moment cause I don't want to hurt anyone."

"That's amazing!" He reached out tentatively to touch her aura and felt his fingers start to tingle as he got closer.

"Let me ask you something."

"Go ahead, I'm listening."

"Have you ever noticed that people breathe differently when they're awake from when they're sleeping?"

"Yes, many times."

"Right, now I reckon that most people act like rechargeable batteries," Devon-sensei raised a brow. "They go on about their daily lives using up their ki, then when they're tired they go to sleep to recharge. Their breathing changes to an instinctual pattern that allows them to regenerate ki, it's a slow process as they don't have a mental focus but it works. Some generate ki faster than others, meaning they need less sleep, others generate it at different times, some people wake up feeling like zombies and others are morning people who bounce outta bed ready to take on the world." Ranma smiled as the older mans other eyebrow joined the first.

"You know what? That actually makes more sense than you'd think." He started stroking his chin as he thought it through, "So what you're trying to say is that people who can mimic those patterns while awake can generate ki faster?"

"Up to a point, see if they really could do that then they'd be roughly tripling the amount of time they generated ki, they'd hardly need to sleep an' that really don't work as the body needs time to deal with toxins and stuff. Now take me for example I could stay awake for weeks just on my ki alone but I don't because I don't want to damage the internal balance my body maintains, I sleep about three hours a night now though."

"That's……How though; I mean why hasn't anyone ever figured all this out before?"

"They have, there are scrolls all over the place, in libraries of different Koryu(5), in universities where they've been translated and discarded as they couldn't make head or tails of it. It ain't just us either, many of the other Asian countries have got it figured out at one time or another but lost them again."

"This is all very interesting but what does it have to do with me hurting myself with my ki?"

"Er, nothin' really. Getting back to what I wanted to say before, hurt is probably the wrong word. Taint would be better," Ranma held up a small calloused hand, "hold on a moment, I'm gettin' there. Most martial artists who can actively generate ki use their emotions as a carrier or a jump starter. It's effective and probably the easiest way to begin with ki. It's not the best way though, when I started I used my confidence, as time went on I came to the conclusion that there was nothing I couldn't beat, no one was better, faster, wiser, you get the picture? Until that confidence nearly killed me and everyone I hold dear. In fact if I'd lost that fight the world would be a different place, I reckon it'd be pretty much a cinder as it would have led to World War III, Saffron wouldn't have stopped at ruling his people, he wanted more than that. It was after the dust settled and I had time to think that I finally understood about what I call emotional poisoning."

"Emotional poisoning, hmm, it sounds pretty bad."

"Yeah it is, when you first start it ain't that big a deal, but it leaves a bit of itself behind in the ki reserve. That's where it begins, each time you use the emotion to power your ki it builds on what it left behind before, making it easier to access the next time. After a while the emotion becomes the dominant emotion, happiness, depression, anger. It doesn't matter; they're all as bad as each other in their own way. Soon you don't have any other way of reacting to things or you react without thinking and you're no longer in control, the emotion is. That's when it gets bad, especially if you happen to be a powerful martial artist who can kill. You may not even realize you've killed someone or many people til it's too late. My 'friend' Ryoga is like that, not that he's killed anyone as far as I know, hell most of the people I mix with are like that, but they don't have the offensive capabilities of Ryoga. He's got a concussion blast that in perfect form can leave a crater sixty feet across and ten feet deep, it can blow out windows up to three blocks away and it's all powered by depression. Imagine if he gets depressed in down town Tokyo and loses control. He could kill thousands without even knowing or caring, then when he did realize he'd done it he'd be even more depressed, you see it's a viscous circle. The more depressed he gets the more powerful his technique becomes, it might help to know it's a suicide technique, each time you use it a part of you hopes that this time you'll manage to kill yourself and that's why it doesn't hurt him even though he's at 'ground zero'."

"I see what you mean, so how do you counter that?"

"Well like I'm teaching my students, the thing is not to rely on emotion in the first place. Sure it makes it easier in the short term but the long-term gains can be disastrous. One of the natural safeguards is that a sleeping person generating ki has no real focus for their emotions, unless they have powerful dreams, so they produce pure ki."

"So the way to generate ki is to breathe like you do while asleep and maintaining no focus?"

"Nah, it ain't very useful unless you wanna catch up on your z's. Matching your waking pattern to your sleeping pattern would put you to sleep real fast." Ranma looked at the old man with a smug expression. "It was a good guess though."

Both occupants of the room looked up suddenly as the door swung open without any warning.

"Ah-ha I found you." Sachiko stood in the open doorway pointing at the redhead seated comfortably on the massage table.

"So you did Sachiko, now why don't you be a good girl and take a seat while Ranma here and I finish our discussion."

"But I want to show you…."

"Oh don't worry about that child, we've already figured that out."

"Well! What is it?"

"It's an advanced form of ki enhanced armour. It protects her when she fights. That about covers it doesn't it Ranma?"

"Yeah, it's pretty basic but you got it covered." Ranma smiled at Sachiko. "Sorry about disappearing like that, it's just it's not my technique so I couldn't really tell you about it."

"But you could tell him?" She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Stop sulking Sa-chan it's unbecoming in an adult. She didn't tell me anything. Once I figured out that she was a strong martial artist it only took a few moments for me to figure out what had happened." Sachiko frowned at her sensei for a moment then relaxed.

"Alright I guess, but why didn't you just say you couldn't tell me in the first place Ranma?"

"Ummm, ya mean it would have helped?"

"Well of course it would, I wouldn't have pried if I'd known it was taboo."

"Never stopped any of the girls I've known before."

"Hey! If it's combat armour how come me massaging you caused it to work?"

"Erm, I think it started when I asked you to press harder, my body took that as a weak attack and as you applied more and more pressure it got stronger as well. Then when you started using reiki your ki caused it to harden even more as my body didn't recognize it so figured it was attacking me."

"Oh! That must be quite useful in a fight, but sensei, how do I give someone a massage when they get hard when I touch them?"

"Oh I'm sure you'll figure it out when you meet the right person." Peter smiled as his protégé blushed brightly as she realized how her words could be taken. Ranma looked back and forth between the two not quite getting the double entendre. "On that subject I suppose it's time to show you an advanced reiki technique that might help, here watch what I do closely there will be tests on it. Excuse me Ranma, if you could just raise your sleeve I'll show my student how to overcome your armour."

Ranma looked at him nervously at the thought of anyone being able to break her Bakusai Tenketsu conditioning.

"Don't worry Ranma I can't use it against you. I'm just not that strong, plus I'm a healer sworn to protect and heal others. In any case this only works if you allow it to." Ranma relaxed a little as he smiled encouragingly at her.

"Okay I suppose that would be alright then." She quickly rolled up her sleeve and watched as the two others in the room approached.

"You might like to watch this also Ranma, it's really quite fascinating. Use your ki sight to follow what I'm doing both of you." To their other senses nothing was happening but to the inner eye his hands began to glow as he siphoned ki into them. Ranma gasped as she watched the ki change, it shouldn't be possible but she could see it with her own 'inner eye'. The old man matched his ki signature to hers and then approached again.

"Do you see what I did?" Then sighed as his student shook her head.

"Yeah I did, you've matched your ki to mine haven't you. How'd you do that?"

"It's really only a superficial resemblance Ranma but for a while it will suffice. Eventually your body will know that it's not your ki and act to defend you, but it should be long enough to give you a good massage." He smiled again as he thought what she could accomplish with reiki if only she would focus on healing rather than combat.

"Now just relax and I'll demonstrate it for you Sachiko and then you get to try it." He reached over and gently stroked the skin of Ranma's arm, the idea wasn't to push down but to let the ki do the work for him, it would gently separate the muscle strands and straighten them. Unfortunately there were to be side effects that none of them could foresee.

Ranma's eyes rolled into the back of her head as she collapsed bonelessly across the table and slid to the floor.

-Elsewhere-

The creature stood in utter darkness, a place that it liked, somewhere it had always been, waiting for its chance to break the bonds placed on it by the other two. It would happen, it would, it had manipulated everything from beyond the 'Pale'(6).

It watched as it had since the beginning of time, those selfish others had changed everything to suit themselves. When it objected they had imprisoned it outside, saying 'There you go your own little void.' Condescension dripping from every word.

Now all that was left was revenge, and it had started that now.

-Another Elsewhere-

The creature looked at the screen in front of it in disbelief before punching a button and beginning a code red alert. Klaxons blared as the warning went out.

"Warning, breach of Earth plane imminent. Warning, breach of Earth plane imminent." Several others looked up from similar screens as even more of its kind ran over to find out what was happening.

"Status report Odines!"

"Subject Ranma has been used to breach the Pale to the nether realm. I am initiating Category one shields now."

"It won't be enough send a combat team. I'll call the boss and see if He'll release additional resources." He stormed away and slammed out the door while Odines slapped a communit to get a line to the barracks.

"Odines calling, we need a veteran combat unit stat. Sending co-ordinates."

"I'll need authorization."

"Damn it we don't have time to go through channels, 'It's' breaching the Pale into Earth."

"Shit! Why didn't you say so? Releasing team Alpha to co-ordinates on your mark."

"Mark!" Team Alpha disappeared

To be continued……

A/N Things are starting to heat up a little as more of the story comes into play.

I'm not trying for a cliché here it just looks like it.

Bu-jutsu literally 'the art of war' or martial arts, by the way if there is a 'BuJutsu Weekly' I apologise for breaking your copyright. It's accidental I promise.

She's been dealing with Nabiki for a while now and picks things up from people she considers to be stronger than she is, not necessarily in the art either.

Nodoka's been training Ranma in female modesty. "No daughter of mine is going to parade around like that!" shiiiiinggggg

Koryu are traditional schools of martial arts, there are a couple of hundred still functioning today in Japan. Though they are dwindling as youngsters shy away from the traditions and style of fighting they teach. The word means almost literally 'Old Style' meaning they were designed for the battle field, combat leading to death. They were brutally efficient and focused on killing the quickest possible way. The schools were normally allied with clans who paid them a stipend for the right to teach the clan their style. Gendai or 'New Style' is more for physical and spiritual development and the ability to beat the crap outta someone. Lol. Gendai came about after the Meiiji restoration in 1868, after the wearing of swords in public was banned, the battle field had changed so much in that period that many styles became obsolete. Check the movie 'The last Samurai' if you want to see what I mean.

Pale, in this case I'm calling the boundaries between the planes the 'Pale' if anyone wants to give me a different more appropriate name for it then contact me at my e-mail address.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer:- It is not my intention at any point in time to lay claim to the rights or privileges of the owners of Ranma-chan, or his cohorts in crime. I am but a lowly fan fiction writer. Any attempt to sue me will be found to be futile, as I am very poor. If you would like to change that fact at any point in time, please, please, please, sell me rights to Ranma half for one cent US. Okay, back to reality, I suppose it's back to the mines for me.

Author's note)- For those people waiting for an update of 'Who's a Pokemon master?' I'll have to apologise, you see I had a brainwave on that story and it kind of happened very quickly. I got excited and posted it before I knew where I was going with it. I have some tentative plans now on where to take it but it'll be slower than I like to leave people. Plus I really should finish one major project before I start several others.

Phoenix Ascension

Chapter 3K

Sachiko and her sensei stared in shock as Ranma crumpled onto the floor on the far side of the massage table the red-head not even making any attempt to break her fall. Neither of the two watching were prepared for what was happening now. After a moment of stunned silence they both rushed forwards to check on the fallen red-head.

"Sensei what did you do?" She knelt down and attempted to straighten the young woman's limbs as she supported the girls dead weight. "Ranma, Ranma, wake up! Come on, you're scaring us." Sachiko patted the girls cheek in an attempt to wake her up.

"I didn't do anything that would cause this kind of reaction." Then joined his student in staring again as Sachiko felt the weight of Ranma leave her arms, startled she glanced back from her sensei to see Ranma was floating a couple of metres off of the floor. Her feet and hands hung limply and her back was arched as if her body were supported only by the small of her back. Her body rotated around her centre of gravity as her lifeless eyes stared sightlessly at the walls.

"YESSSS!" An inhuman voice cried from her motionless lips as she spun faster increasing in momentum. Peter found he was shivering as his ki senses reacted to a new presence, it wasn't close but it seemed to be getting nearer by the moment. Then everything stopped with heart stopping suddenness, and a hissing sound announced that the approaching something was displeased for some reason. The old Reiki master shuddered again as he know that nothing good would ever make a cold sibilant sound like that. The two looked on as Ranma rose even further until she was almost touching the ceiling just before as iridescent bubble appeared and encased her in a protective ward, the three ofuda that formed the circled around the sphere at equidistant points distributing their corruscating bolts of power into the rippling blue surface.

Sachiko backed against the wall as her weirdness metre was peaked for the first time in her life. Peter Devon stared in fascination as the power in the bubble grew. The walls of the room seemed to contract painfully to his vision and then expand, no not expand explode as he watched the walls pushed back at an ever increasing speed. Everything in the surrounding rooms was pushed aside and scattered as the walls broke apart and moved further away, traveling like shrapnel carried by a cyclone ripping out the outer walls of the building and spraying them into the streets beyond.

Peter picked himself up from the floor and shook his head to clear some of the ringing that the concussive blast had carried. Sachiko was no where in sight and he began to panic. He was about to go in search of her when his attention was arrested by the sight of four pairs of huge avian wings surrounding the bubble. One of the huge creatures looked back over its shoulder past its left wing and glared at him. None of them were shorter than seven feet in height, and their wings made them seem even larger adding in some cases another couple of feet to their height. They looked like angels but unlike any angel he'd seen in a book or chapel. Forget white fluffy wings and long pure robes, these had the wings of predators. The shortest of them seemed to have the massive wings of a Condor, he'd need them if he was actually able to fly, as his body while the shortest was also the most massive, broad shoulders with arms as large as most peoples upper thigh, the wings were supported by a mass of muscle from the centre of his shoulder-blades, just like the rest. Though the others weren't as muscular they were taller, the tallest was a slender eight and a half feet in height and her wings were like the speckled feathers of a Peregrine Falcon, whereas the first was obviously built for power, she was built for speed. The other two had the wings of eagles though as he was no ornithologist he had no way of knowing which type they were. The other difference was that these were clad in pure white armour with gold trappings and a large golden eagle emblem across the chest of the one he could see across the glowing sphere of power, the armour looked kind of familiar and he wracked his brain to figure out what it reminded him of, then he recalled the pictures of Roman centurions he'd seen in history books. What he'd at first taken for skirts turned out to be tessellated leather kilts that stopped just above the knees. His senses were sent reeling as he finally managed to get some perspective on their power. He'd never seen an aura like these beings produced it shook him to the very core, he hadn't at first been able to sense the extent of their power and now he knew why. It was so simple when he came to understand that he was within their power aura and as such their strength was unreadable. The 'Angel' that had glared at him before turned back to him and asked.

"What are you still standing there for mortal; we can't save you if this gets out. We may not even be able to save the girl. Get out while you can." It turned back to the sphere and laid its hands on it to add his power to the shield. The sphere shook as another massive blow hit it.

"It's not holding, the demon is just too big!!" Mia looked up to find they still had an audience as Peters legs had frozen and he couldn't move if he tried and he was trying desperately. He was only a Reiki master and nothing he'd ever learned had prepared him to deal directly with the Kami. The decision to move was taken out of his hands when she gestured with her free hand and he found himself flying through the air, he crashed into what remained of the buildings outer wall and pin-wheeled away, thankfully unconscious. He crashed into a pile of rubble forty or so metres away to lay sprawled beside some of the other victims of the power backlash.

"Damn it Mia focus on what's important, attempting to expand shield to Category one, phase A! Initiate!" Slamming both hands to the shield he grimaced as the power was torn from his frame even as the others joined him.

"I think we might hold it for a while, damn it where's that support?" A tinny voice could be heard coming from what appeared to be a headset, something similar wouldn't have looked out of place in any modern military setting but taken together with his ancient looking armour it looked completely out of place.

"Calm yourself crackle Arias. It'll be there in t-minus three, two, one…." The remaining portion of roof disappeared as it was vaporized, the dust joining that that was already circling in the growing maelstrom of power. The room shook as another concussive blast ripped from the bubble covering the blast as their support crashed into the floor at more than supersonic speeds, the impact barely causing His knees to buckle.

"Damn it Asgaroth, get your skinny arse over here and assist!" Arias broad frame shook with the strain of holding the shield in place.

No mortal was present to see the return of the twelve foot God to the mortal plane after nearly three thousand years of self-imposed exile. His armour still shone golden in the bright sunlight even though He hadn't needed to wear it since He was last on Earth. Casting a critical eye on the scene before him he assessed what he'd need to do

"It's too late for that; if we don't shut down the nexus the next blast is going to kill someone. Whatever is happening that's a Class One Category One demon, whoever is planning this is willing to play for keeps."

"You can't take out the nexus alone man, even your father would have trouble with that."

"There's no time for this, just watch my back." With that He began to fade even as He approached the shield moving slightly out of phase with this reality He could see the pinhole of darkness that pierced the shield at its nadir (1). He'd never attempted anything like this before even if He had trained for it; He waited for the right moment. There, something traveled within the shaft of inky darkness. The sword He carried sang as it was released from its sheath and leveled at the creature now ascending towards the defenceless girl. If He missed this there wouldn't be any second chances, they would have to initiate a burn and cauterize the wound in the Pale. That would mean the mortal would die, regardless of what she carried within but that wouldn't really matter as Naha and most of the Islands of Okinawa would cease to exist along with her. He thrust the blade and almost shouted in exultation as it met resistance that would not be there if He'd missed. If He'd missed none of them would have been there, Team Alpha and most likely He Himself would have been a spreading cloud of atoms. At it was the pressure He applied was enough to keep the demon from attaining its goal. For the moment.

"Now all I've got to do is kill it." He muttered ruefully. Applying more pressure the shaft of darkness began to buckle, just not enough, the demon began to move again as it received a renewed portion of energy, it approached ever closer to the underside of the shield.

"It's not enough Asgaroth, we need help!!" The shield expanded again as the force inside increased yet again.

"Call in Team Gamma to assist." Asgaroth grunted as the demon forced its way upward once again.

"I'm on it. Control calling in assistance, Team Gamma requested for immediate deployment."

"Alpha leader request denied, Team Gamma is already deployed, Team Theta is enroute."

"Acknowledged Control, Team Theta released. Requesting ETA for Team Theta?"

"ETA at t-minus thirty seconds and counting."

"Asgaroth can you hold it for thirty seconds? Team Theta is on the way."

"I-I can't hold it, it's too strong. I don't know what it is but it's not a normal demon. I'm going to call on my priestess for aid." He closed his eyes even as he strained to hold his foe in place. "Priestess," His thought went out along a long unused link.

I hear you Lord, what do you require of me? 

-Thirty thousand feet above the Pacific Ocean-

Khu Lon rested her head against her seat as she contemplated the changes in her lives. Six times she'd been reborn, five of those times she'd been born knowing all of what she'd learned in her previous lives. She was a cursed woman, not in the Jhusenkyou sense but in the fact that she was the guardian of her people not that she truly saw it as a real curse, it wasn't even that much of a burden.

Once in her youth she'd angered a God by cursing the other Elders on the Council who in their arrogance had challenged that selfsame God, they had continued the battle that had raged for a thousand years and left the once mighty nation of Amazons a ragged band of war-torn survivors, the war should have ended long before but the God was enraged by his peoples arrogance and thus swore to hunt them to the ends of the Earth. At the last the remnants of the Amazon empire had been cornered and just as Asgaroth was about to crush them the elders had hatched a desperate plan and turned to the dark arts of human sacrifice in a last ditch attempt to defeat Him. He'd known what they had planned for him and acted to eliminate them and the remainder of His people but Khu Lon the youngest and weakest of the Elders had changed his mind with her actions. In the battle that had ensued he'd killed each of the five Elders responsible for sacrificing the tribes children and brushed his hands of them.

Khu Lon had then made an error that would cost her, she'd cursed the Elders that they not be able to cross over into the next life and they'd have to wait until the end of time to be reborn. The trouble was she was too weak to actually make it stick forever and He'd made sure that she would be there to clean up the mess she'd made of that situation.

Most of her life had been a battle, carving a new home for her people and training for the day each of the Elders would break free of the paltry curse she as a mortal was able to use on them. And come they did, they each came to get their revenge on the survivors of the purge, and it had been her privilege to battle each of them and save her people from certain annihilation.

That is until the last of the Elders had been reborn into an incarnation of Saffron, instantly corrupting him and turning his purpose from being the saviour of his people to attempt to conquer those annoying Amazons that he hadn't even known were there until that final rebirth. He'd been hatched from his egg knowing that they were his people's mortal enemies and thus he had turned his gaze on them and instructed his people to crush them. That hadn't been the case though. Khu Lon had led her people to defeat them several times before the numbers of the Phoenix people dropped too low for them to even think of winning a confrontation with the Amazons. Saffron had changed the game plan then; he'd moved to crush them from without, using guile and treachery he'd caused his people to spy on the Amazons looking for a weakness.

Nothing had turned up immediately until Ranma had come along; there had been such a glaring weakness in their defences after his arrival that Saffron had formed plans to destroy the insignificant bug.

Khu Lon smirked as she considered just how badly that had blown up in Saffron's face, he hadn't really stood a chance when Ranma thought he'd lost everything that was dear to him, he'd destroyed the incarnation of Saffron and with him had died the last of the spirits of the Elders. Not that she minded missing a battle with the Phoenix, she'd have lost and she knew it all too well, which is one of the reasons why the stalemate went on as long as it did. Ranma was different than anyone she'd ever met before, where others might have given up in the face of overwhelming odds he'd persevered and managed to defeat something much more powerful than he was. Now that the Phoenix was dead the sole reason for her great granddaughter to be in Japan was void and she could return to her homeland with her new husband. Now there's no excuse for them to be in Japan they may as well return to China, in fact…. Khu Lon stilled her mind as she felt a presence that she hadn't felt in thousands of years. Asgaroth? Here? What is happening? Where is He?

Priestess? 

"I hear you Lord, what do you require of me?" Xian Lon and her husband of less than twenty four hours stared at the wide eyed Matriarch as she began muttering to herself.

I require energy, I need your faith. 

"I hear you my Lord, what little I have is yours." She turned to the children and met their eyes. "Join hands with me, we must make a circle. Don't ask there is not time." Without further ado she grabbed a hand from each of them and waited for them to complete the circle. "Give me your Chi children, I have need of it." Moments later she was flooded with their youthful chi, gathering what she had stored in her staff and her own massive Chi reserves together she sent it down the long unused link to her God. He sent back a feeling of gratitude which was felt by all three of them. Now that the crises had been answered they slumped back into their seats totally spent. Khu Lon opened her eyes to find they were the centre of attention as the cabin crew and other passengers had been witness to the fact that they had all glowed with their power before sending it wherever it had gone.

"Is there a problem children?" Khu Lon grated out as she made eye contact with each of those watching her. She smiled satisfied as they all turned back to what they should be doing, they were still watching she knew that but they weren't staring anymore. The old woman settled back to rest her weary eyes, she wouldn't reawaken until they touched down in Tokyo.

-Naha, 20feet above sea level-

Asgaroth watched as Team Theta arrived on the scene and gave a tiny shudder as the elite forces screwball squad arrived.

"Prepared for trouble!"

"Make it double and doubled!"

"To protect the world from annihilation!"

"To unite all people under our Heavens!"

"To embrace the goodness of truth and love!"

"To extend their reach to the stars above!"

"Misai!"

"Serlina!"

"Gervis!"

"Mareka!"

"Team Theta! Arriving at the speed of sound!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Mareka! THAT'S RIGHT!"

"Can it you goof-balls and get over here I don't know how much longer we can hold it!" 'Damn it why'd it have to be these four anime watching otaku?' Arias thought to himself.

Mareka raised an auburn eyebrow as she surveyed the wreckage that had once been 'Cutie Rabbit Bun-buns Beauty parlour'. "Oooh nice mess you guys made of the place."

"Shuttup! You three come 'ere. Mareka assist Asgaroth." Arias directed his forces where he felt they needed to be.

"No! Everyone stay with the shield, my help is on the way." Even as He spoke his plea to His priestess was answered. The Amazons God smiled as he felt her faith was undiminished even though she had not heard from Him in over three thousand years. Faith seemed like such a frail source of energy but for a God it acted as an amplifier to their innate power. Whereas before He struggled to hold back the demon now His blade bit into the shaft of dark energy as Asgaroth poured his renewed reserves into the fray.

Several of the Valkyrie turned to watch as they felt the power surge. "What on Earth was that, and where'd it come from?"

"My Priestess has answered my need." He grinned ferociously as the sword slid further; the tip touched the demon and drew forth a scream of outrage as the positive energy began to tear at it.

"What are you talking about Asgaroth; you can't break the Covenant by actively recruiting a priesthood. You know this!"

"It is of no concern to me. My Priestess predates the Covenant by a thousand years." He laughed as His power surged even more. The sword drove into the demon and He watched in satisfaction as parts of the negative plane creature began to explode as the sword finally slid completely through the hell beast. As the sword slid out the other side Asgaroth was forced to take a step forward to regain His balance as all resistance disappeared.

"Control? Demon Nexus has been terminated." The Amazons God was breathing heavily even as he laughed weakly. Crouching down He relaxed for the first time since arriving on the scene, looking around He had to agree with Mareka the place was a mess for a couple hundred metres in any direction He chose to look. Checking around He was surprised to find that most of the mortals that had been in the vicinity had made it to some form of safety and of those that had failed there were very few serious injuries. There'd be serious words with Mia about her handling of the Reiki master Peter Devon when they were debriefed later on. He smiled as he heard Controls answer to His report and then frowned as they continued.

"That's an affirmative, one Mother grade Class One Category One demon has been vanquished. Caution, Control reads a second demon signature now that the Mothers presence is gone. We are unable to pinpoint its location from here though." Asgaroth's head swivelled as he tried to locate the demon. There! He turned towards the shield they'd been holding and felt His eyes widen as….

Mia had been straining, the shield was holding but the demon presence was stronger than they'd thought possible when they'd first been assigned this task. Nothing ever went according to plan though so she would shoulder her share of the strain and hope that the reinforcements they had requested would arrive in time to be of aid. Barring anything better to do she watched as the young red-head continued to be suspended above the ground by the force of the shield, 'Pretty young thing isn't she, I wonder what the demons want with her? Bit of a tomboy though, what with the way she's dressed.' She bunched her shoulders as she resisted another surge of power from the demon. 'Hmmm calluses on her hands must be some kind of artist maybe, or she could be a martial artist.' The angel smirked for a moment, 'Oh yeah like that's likely.' Looking back she found the figure had stopped spinning slowly around her axis and was looking directly at her, there was nothing human in the eyes that she could see, but such a pretty colour. She could vaguely hear the taskforce commander reporting the termination of the demon in the background. Smiling she thought to herself. 'I wish I had eyes like that.'

The arrival of team Theta in the middle of her ruminations had allowed Alpha team to relax a little as the pressure was relieved and they managed to contract the shield back to its original size and intensity. Several of the team sighed in relief as they heard Asgaroth give His report a few moments later on the demise of the demon nexus, they had a few moments to celebrate another successful mission before things went sour.

Mia was bound to rue her earlier thought as the girls eyes changed before her. The tiny black pupils expanded like a whirlpool of darkness as they engulfed the iris, not stopping there the blackness bled out into the whites of the young girl's eyes until there was nothing left of the original colours, and then as if they were eyes opening, an intense emerald coloured light appeared where the pupils had once been. Pandemonium broke out as the rest of the team felt the change in the one they were trying to protect and tried desperately to reorient the shield to resist attack from within, it was no longer a matter of the girl needing protection, now they needed it. Mia would have been swearing and telling everyone what she was seeing but she wasn't given either the time or a chance. Black energy snapped out from the girls eyes and smashed through the flimsy shield and into her chest. The young warrior from Team Alpha was flung back violently in a cloud of feathers as the beam engulfed her, and began shredding her, she would have screamed in agony but she couldn't make her lungs work through the pain. Then she knew nothing as it became too much for her, Control picking up on her vital signs pulled her back for treatment.

As the downed angel disappeared the attack was suspended and the girl they'd come to save started to turn towards another of the angels. The only proof that Mia had been there was the cloud of feathers that was slowly settling around the bloody remains of her left wing.

"Control we need an exorcist immediately. The demon is inside the victim, I repeat the target has been possessed!"

"Reading you loud and clear, exorcist has been on standby and will arrive in three, two, one." There was a bright flash that didn't fade as the remaining members of the taskforce beheld the arrival of a Class One Category one Unrestricted Goddess. The demon within had lined up its second victim and released its energy which splashed harmlessly against the inside of the hastily reconfigured shield.

"Xeras is onsite, commencing exorcism." She turned to the brightly glowing shield and commanded. "Drop the shield and back away, I'll take it from here." Lining herself up with the place the demon was attacking in a bid to gain its freedom she gave a slight nod and braced herself as the rippling blue sphere ceased to exist. The beams of dark energy slammed into Her cupped hands and dissipated. She blinked for a moment as she assessed the power level of the attack.

"Ah! You're just a baby. What are you doing this far from the crèche? Asgaroth what's your take on this?"

"It seems you're right Xeras, it's truly weak." He shrugged after a moment, "Well that's a good thing. Control, suggesting the withdrawal of Team Alpha and Theta. We'll be needing a reclamation team in here as soon as possible, the place is a mess." Asgaroth produced a giant sweat drop as He watched Xeras cooing at the young girl they'd come to save, then blinked as she stopped a second beam attack from striking Her.

"That's enough! Don't make me come in there; you wouldn't like to make me angry now would you?" She gestured with the hand that had stopped the demons attack, making a curling motion as if She were scooping something up and then pulled the hand back. Suspended from her fingertips was a small black figure that appeared to be made of oily smoke, it gradually resolved itself into a kitten form a father large kitten.

"Well I'll be, it's a Neko demon." True enough the demon that had lain semi-dormant within Ranma since he'd been trained in the Neko-ken was indeed just a kitten, it should have matured by now but there was something in the aura of the innocent and naïve martial artist that kept that from happening. On the ground the kitten would have stood about two feet tall at the shoulder, the body had the blocky muscular appearance of a boxer dog, powerful shoulder supported the fore limbs, they had human seeming hands but the very tips held sharp black claws. The rear legs were slightly shorter than those at the front and were those of a cat, large padded and also claw tipped, a less embarrassed observer would note the creatures sex as female if they checked under the stub of tail that remained. It would stand on all fours but it seemed that the skeleton was formed to become upright as the form gained strength and maturity. The creatures head was incongruous with the rest of its body, the head seemed to be extremely kitten like in a way that no one would ever call cute, if just slightly longer from muzzle to back of head than was standard for a cat, its ears like those of a lynx sat to either side of its head and framed the flaming emerald eyes that gazed with demonic intensity at the world beyond. Down either side of the Neko demons muzzle would be seen flashes of ivory as its fangs glinted in the light of the sun as they stretched past the lower lip by centimetres. The creature seemed to be made of smoke, but that was an effect of its fur, which formed tight spirals of smoky grey hair not unlike that seen on Cornish Rex(2). The hair seemed to float independently of any breeze and that was what gave the appearance of it being insubstantial as smoke.

"Oh isn't it cute!" Asgaroth looked at the Goddess in surprise as She gushed like a little girl. "Can I keep him?"

"No you can't, you know the rules. Besides that thing took out Mia before you arrived, she's in intensive care at the moment, and while they may be able to reattach the wing there's no way she'll ever fly again. You know what that means. I know we have to return it, but I say we return it spayed so we wont have to worry about the next generation of Neko demon." The kitten eyed the God with very intent eyes as it hissed in displeasure at the concept just discussed

"Oh alright you meanie, but just so you know I'm not happy with you. I hope Mia will be alright, it's not easy to lose the thing you love. Maybe it's for the best though, she really wasn't cut out for a combat team. She had too much compassion, and now she has an excuse to discover other talents."

"Look thanks for the assist Xeras, but if I'd known it was that young I would have handled it myself. That'll teach me to make assumptions based on what I've already dealt with." He looked over the Goddesses shoulder at the still suspended girl and motioned until she was back on solid ground. "We'd better make sure there's nothing else in there."

"I can assure you that I've already checked and there isn't." Xeras stomped her foot in mild ire at the slur on her alibility. The Neko hissed again as it swung in her grasp.

"That's good to know, but if I'm reading things correctly then that demon has been in there for more than a decade. I want to know how the monitoring stations missed it."

"Hmm that's actually a good question; they're not usually that careless."

"My thought exactly, so we'll need to examine the situation very closely and find out how it was done."

"Control I need the file for one Ranma formerly of the Saotome Clan. Focus on the period between ten and fourteen years ago. Focus on the keyword Neko. We'll be returning as soon as the reclamation squads are here" Turning back to her partner she asked him. "Are you sure I can't keep it?" She was watching fondly as it played with Her. Asgaroth must have been watching something else as all He saw was a spirited attempt by the Neko demon to gnaw her hand off and or tear out Her wrist with its back paws.

"Um I'm pretty sure O-Kami-Sama won't allow it, but you can always ask I suppose." He'd do almost anything to head off the dreaded Pouting Goddess Attack. Imagine the standard puppy dog eyes attack and multiply it by a factor of at least a hundred, Goddesses are much more potent than the average woman.

"Right, right, I'm sure that's all very important…" Both of the deities turned in surprise at the lightly amused tone of voice that addressed them as they hadn't felt anything approach them. "Xeras if you'd turn that adorable little kitten over to administration as soon as possible please, and remember don't get too attached to it as they'll be returning it to the Dark Lords crèche as soon as possible."

"Oh I'm sorry I forgot about you. Control, sending Neko demon to containment now." The cats eyes flared as it yowled in distress before disappearing in a flash of bright light.

"What are you doing here?" Asgaroth folded His arms across His massive chest as he regarded the latest arrival, He was possibly the most bizarre creature to appear in 'Cutie Rabbit Bun Buns' that day. He was quite tall somewhere between nine and ten feet and had the slender athletic frame of the long distance runner. In fact his was the form that all long distance runners aspired to, slender to cut down on wind resistance, with lean whip-chord muscles that told not only of speed and power, but also of endurance. His frame told those that saw him that he could run faster than the wind, and as long as the Earth turned. That wasn't what made his appearance strange though, it was the fact that he was wearing a bright red singlet and pair of shorts, he had a red sweat band above his eyes which held his sunglasses in place amongst the golden locks of his hair. On his feet were a pair of the most lurid red running shoes ever seen on any plane of existence, and their appearance wasn't improved by the fact that they had tiny golden wings attached to either side of them. Anyone looking closer might have noticed that they weren't part of the shoe but part of Him that was slotted through the slit in the side of the joggers. One thing tied the clothes together other than the colour, it was the fact that they were all Nike brand goods. He'd once been heard to say that He'd wear Mercury brand sports gear but the name was too long to make a catchy brand-name.

"I was asked, don't you know. O-Kami-Sama felt it would be a good thing for there to be someone to explain things to our young friend here. Seems he's owed an apology or some such and I've been deemed expendable if he goes ballistic." He gestured down at the still sleeping form of Ranma, who for an attractive young girl could certainly snore with the worst of them. The unnamed beings tone of voice still sounded as if it was greatly amused with the whole situation in general, but this particular part of it was even more amusing and He couldn't believe how much fun He was having.

"Expendable? Uh-huh, I can agree with that. So really, why you?" Xeras wasn't buying it for a second.

"Well I don't mean to brag and all, but I volunteered, as it were. So why don't you two just trot along and make way for the clean-up crew? Hmm, Mareka was right Asgaroth, you and your team do quality work, I've seen war torn cities that had less damage than this. Now why don't you run along like good little children and play?"

Asgaroth stood glaring daggers at the man before Him, 'Oooh one of these days…'

The man turned back to them and raised a brow even as His eyes flashed with lightning. "I SAID GO PLAY!" He managed to loom over them even though He was shorter than either of them. Neither of the deities was willing to admit they had been intimidated in any way but they weren't slow in backing down and making ready to depart either.

"Alright, but just so you know you haven't heard the last of this."

"What..ever!" The big man made a dismissive gesture with His hand as He turned back to the young girl sprawled in-elegantly across the tiled floor. Reaching down His hand He covered her eyes and murmured a few syllables to the air before disappearing.

-Elsewhere-

Ranma groaned in protest as he opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. Patting himself down in his normal start up mode he discovered that nothing had changed and he was still currently a she all bumps and curves present and accounted for. For that he just had to groan again, after all anyone who hurt as much as he did should get some kind of reward or something at least.

"Ah man, what happened." She sat up on the massage table and took stock of her surroundings. Still in the beauty parlour, fully clothed. 'Where're Devon sensei and Sachiko?'

Ranma groaned again as she levered her legs over the side of the table and allowed them to fall to the floor. "Ouch!" Well that hurt more than it should. He ran through the last things he remembered, 'That's right Devon-sensei was showing us an advanced Reiki technique, and now I'm opening my eyes up and hurting all over. Man I dunno what it was but I don't wanna feel it again.' She breathed in gently and then out, it took a couple of moments for her to realise there was something drastically wrong, there was no other noise, not even the usual white noise that was the background to everyday living in a city. Casting out with her ki senses she tried to find out where everyone was but only managed to find one ki signature, and she sure as hell didn't recognise it either.

The door seemed to be miles away as the young martial artist considered just how in hell he was going to convince his aching body to make it. Never let it be said that a little pain defeated Ranma, or a lot of pain as the case may be, she gritted her teeth and slid her best foot forward, 'Alright now the other one. Who is that? Sure doesn't believe in making things easy does he? I wonder what's going on, I still can't feel anyone other than him.'

"There, made it. See didn't hurt a bit." She bit back a grimace as she reached for the door handle. 'Okay maybe just a little.' She would have snorted in derision at her internal monologue but stopped herself because she knew that would be a painful lesson in irony. The handle gave way and the door swung open as Ranma tried to stop herself from falling on her backside. A couple of minutes of deep breathing and all seemed right with the world, at least until she began to move out into the beauty parlours foyer.

"Ah there you are! Would you like a hand, you seem a little peaky to me." Ranma looked up at the large man sitting on one of the leather couches in the waiting room. Ranma watched the man warily as she was currently in no shape to take on anyone, even if they did appear to be weedy, okay that wasn't quite right, there was plenty of muscle on the mans frame and from the way he was sitting in the chair he was taller than she'd first credited

"Yeah I'm just fine and peachy, so what do you want." Ranma straightened her shoulders and suppressed the wince as muscles she knew she had but currently wished she didn't protested the movement.

"I like it! Such bravado, so much machismo you can almost smell it. Settle petal, I mean you no harm. Not that there's much you could do about it in your present state even if I did. And as for what you thought earlier you're right I'm not going to make anything easier on you. So sit down and listen while I fill you in on a few facts." He gestured with an offhand motion towards another of the comfy looking chairs. Then sighed as she didn't move. "Alright, let's get it over with. What's the problem?" He eyed the martial artist in front of him as she prepared the best defence her battered body could.

"You said you don't mean me any harm. No one I meet like this means me no harm, so you'd better come clean."

"Or what exactly, you're going to clean my clock perhaps. You're only just barely standing up at the moment so do us all a favour and can the theatrics. Sit down and I'll tell you why I'm here, and what I hope to be the outcome of our meeting."

"Fine mumble , I'm sitting already mumble …" She tried to find an easy and pain free way to lower herself down into the low slung seat and finally gave up. Relaxing her knees she dropped the final few inches and grunted as stars flashed across her eyesight.

"And so graciously too I might add. Now Ranma, I can call you that can't I?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever."

"I'd introduce myself but to be honest that's not as important as you might think. I can see that a name is important to you so for the time being you can call me Mercury. What? I'll have you know that Mercury's a fine name."(2)

"Right….and who are you really."

"As I said the name is Mercury, not that I'd expect you to know much about it, you coming from Japan and all. That's all beside the point anyway, I've been sent here to explain what's happened to you and why, and what is going to happen in potentia. That means I can't tell you what is going to happen but I can tell you some of the things that might happen, you follow?"

"Yes, alright already. For someone who's supposed to be fillin' me in you sure say a lot of nothing."

"Hmm, tough sell I see. So to get back to you, I've been reading your file and I see the most commonly asked question you have is 'Why me?' Usually screamed at the sky I might add. There are four hundred and seventeen cases of that question so far. So we'll start with that. The answer is 'Why not you?'" Ranma just sat and blinked a few times at him.

"That's it? That's what you came here to tell me? And by the way what's goin' on here? You're the only thing I can sense anywhere."

"This? This is your dreamscape, but it's not a dream."

"Oh like that's helpful. Why don't you just give me a straight answer?"

"That was a straight answer. This is your dreamscape. The thing is I took control of it, basically because dreams tend to be chaotic and I didn't want to be dealing with the workings of you subconscious mind. Not that I'd mind seeing a few naked Yumi's running around."

"You Hentai!"

"Oh don't pin it on me, it's your subconscious, Mr. I'm so pure and innocent."

"Erk!"

"And as to the other, well that's not exactly true, there's more to it than 'Why not you?' It's a matter of where to start."

"Try at the beginning and work from there."

"From the beginning you say? Okay if you insist. In the beginning there was the Void. Standard creation myth don't you know?"

"Yeah but what's that got to do with me?"

"Not really as much as you'd like to think, but there are some points in here that might interest you. So there was the Void and then there was O-Kami-Sama, which came first the Void or O-Kami? No one knows and it's not important, what is important is that He had two siblings there also. For all intents and purposes they're triplets, they all look alike. As is the case with many identical siblings the similarities were all on the outside, their internal ideologies were about as far apart as they could possible get. O-Kami believed in Chaos, not the kind that destroys things but the kind that leads to change and freedom of choice. His brother the Dark Lord believed in Order and the third sibling who remains named It till this day didn't care enough to state an opinion other than thinking His siblings were idiots and went off to sulk."

"It? Dark Lord?"

"Well yes that's what we call them, all three of them are beyond the ken of mortals, and as such they have many names. Their true names are incomprehensible to mortals and also unpronounceable as the human voice box doesn't have enough range to cover energy signatures. As for the Dark Lord espousing Order, well just think upon it more as a matter of total control. There have been many avatars of order throughout time; some of the more prominent ones were Hitler, Caesar, and Attila the Hun, as you could guess the list goes on. They all envisioned a world where man could live in peace, of course for that to come to pass you'd have to submit to their total domination as they ruled with an iron fist, but there would have been peace of a sort. O-Kami-Sama believes in Chaos, the kind that allows you to wake in the morning and decide that you're going to do something different today. That wouldn't be possible if the Dark Lord had His way, you'd only do what you were programmed to do now and forever."

"So what's all this got to do with me again?" Ranma crossed her arms in an attempt to hold in her frustration at not getting quick answers.

"Hmm, as I was saying they begged to differ on their ideologies. After they bickered for a while they decided to have a competition to see whose ideology was superior. Neither side could use the total sum of their power, so O-Kami couldn't use total chaos and the Dark Lord couldn't use total order. While they hashed out the rules their brother came back to see what was going on, and promptly left in disgust wondering why they couldn't leave well enough alone. Shhh-shhh, don't fret I'll get there eventually. I'm just filling in some detail for you. Anyway they set up their game board so to speak and rolled the dice for the very first time. Both sides won their first moves as they focused on setting up favourable conditions for themselves. The Dark Lord devised science, the ultimate rules by which the entire universe is governed, while O-Kami created magic as his ultimate tool of Chaos."

"So where's this game board?"

"My dear child you're standing on it."

"What the Earth?"

"No silly, the entire universe. Weren't you listening when I explained science?"

"….."

"Anyway things moved along, for a very long time. That was one of the first joint projects by the way. Time. They created it so that they could stop everything from happening at once though they kind of mingled their own ideas together. O-Kami saw time as a sea where you could go from shore to shore in any direction you chose while His opponent saw time as a river flowing majestically to its destination. Neither was willing to back down so they both became the truth regardless of the paradoxes they created. If you're getting a headache at this point don't worry about it, it happens to everyone."

He reached over for a glass of water and took a sip. "Now as I said time passed and they hit a bit of a stalemate. Neither side seemed to have an advantage, so O-Kami decided to up the ante and create life to which he imbued freewill. Like I said that gave things the option to evolve, adapt and hopefully overcome the conditions imposed on them by science and magic. After billions of years mankind and a number of other sentient races began to appear across a plethora of different planets and a new age was declared in the battle. Now I explained about avatars didn't I? No? Right then with the advent of life each side could choose avatars, beings that embodied the ideologies of either side. You've heard of those I mentioned for the side of Order so I'll give you some of those for the side of Chaos. Ghandi and Florence Nightingale were some; they showed mankind the right way to live and thus gave them choices that they previously couldn't see. The ultimate recent avatar was Jesus of Nazareth; he gave hope to entire nations and still does even after all this time."

"You call that recent times?"

"That depends on what timescale you're talking about doesn't it? If you take it in context against the time since the beginning of the universe then it's less than the blink of an eye."

"I suppose so."

"Still trying to figure out what this has to do with you?" At the red-heads nod He continued. "Right, I'm getting there I promise. Then there was you, if you followed your probable destiny you'd die somewhere in you nineties with a number of children from your first and second marriages and a mass of grand-children from them, you would have been a middling to good martial artist with a big mouth and an attitude to go with it. Just goes to show something's are inevitable, yes? That was all before O-Kami took an interest in you and turned you into an avatar of Chaos." He reached for his handkerchief to wipe the water that Ranma had sprayed across the room off of His face.

"Me! An avatar of the Gods? You've gotta be kiddin' me!?"

"I assure you I don't 'kid' as you put it. Now as an avatar there are certain things that happen that don't to other mortals. Firstly you get interference from the local forces of Chaos and Order; both sides try to influence your life from their point of view. On top of that there's a God and a Demon assigned to you, one makes sure that you aren't faced with too much too soon and that you fulfil your potential as an avatar. The other tries to make your life hard. As an avatar of chaos that means that the Demon was trying to make your life hell, and as your assigned God wasn't made aware that He was your assigned God, you might say that the forces of Order had free rein. The local forces for Chaos tried to care for you but they were outgunned and thus many nasty things happened to you."

"Well that would explain a few things."

"Like the Neko-ken perhaps?"

"Yeah, amongst other things. Damn stupid martial arts style."

"Let's see, the Neko-ken isn't a martial arts technique as most people think. If it were our side wouldn't have a problem with it. What it is, is an attempt by the forces of Order to sidestep the issue of magic. It didn't work the way they intended but it did enough damage that many chose not to touch magic ever again. The book, scroll or stone tablet that it's written on is actually a magical artefact. As such it reaches out for people who fit a certain profile and entices them into utilizing the technique."

"Let me guess, it looks for someone who is reckless with others, careless of the damage done to their students, and I suppose it doesn't hurt if they're stupid and greedy?" Thinking dire thoughts about his father.

"That's actually pretty close to what it looks for Ranma. Now once it finds a target it reels them in until they are in a position to use it. You'd know what that's like firsthand. What people don't realize is that there have only ever been three people who actually survived and 'learned' the technique. You were one of them. What happens when you go cat is largely shaped by your own personality, as a child you were playful and so thus was the entity that possessed you."

"Possessed me? What are you talking' about?"

"Possessed, all those cats attacking you were there to lower your defences so that a Neko demon could possess you, as you were young and playful you were taken over by a baby Neko demon and as it's only been about fourteen years, well lets say that it takes a lot longer for demons and Gods to age. As I said such a thing would normally have been spotted by your protector but He wasn't made aware of the fact He was your protector and the oversight has only recently been corrected. Another factor is such a demon possession would normally be detected by the Gods that watch over this part of the Earth in general, except for this case. You see the technique as I said draws in a corrupt individual who does something that is quite evil when he throws the trainee into the pit, so while it is noted it shows a human doing something, the technique scroll hides the rest of what is happening at the time, and so the possession of such a weak demon goes unnoticed."

"Weak, that's not how the technique is described."

"No, it's not. Let's see if I can explain it. The scroll didn't work as advertised in your case. The Neko-demon that possessed you would normally have grown at a rapid rate, it should have been in control of you right from the start, you would have appeared to go insane and as you killed more and more people the negative energy of these acts would have matured the demon, after awhile, we don't know how long it would take as we tend to find the demon first and destroy it, it would have shed you like a skin after devouring your body from within and then it would have been free to roam the Earth destroying whatever it chose."

"Why couldn't you destroy it? Why didn't it mature like you said it would? Why am I sane if it drives everyone who learns it insane?"

"Who said you're sane? No, no, I apologise that was uncalled for. Firstly we didn't know about it, can't destroy what you don't know about. How did it hide from us, well that's rather easy. You see part of the technique uses the scars you garner from the cats as a shield of sorts."

"I ain't got any scars from that, they all healed years ago."

"Yes the physical scars did indeed heal, unfortunately the psychic trauma left the kind of scars that don't show up on the outside. Only a Reiki master would see them and only then if he knew what he was looking for. I'll answer your second and third questions before I continue with this. The next question is much harder and you probably won't like it. You see when you were a mere babe still in the cradle your father used a different technique on you, I only know because I've read the files of all the people involved with you. It turns out that he hampered your mental development, if allowed to run naturally you'd mature sometime in your fifties after a lifetime of being used by your father. That technique is easy to defeat if you know what to look for, and can even be overcome by someone who doesn't know it's there. You've almost defeated it by yourself." At Ranma's quizzical look he decided to explain further. "Remember the fight with Ryoga where you powered up to four chakra? Well if the fight had gone just a little longer you'd have broken the mental conditioning. I'd suggest you power up again as soon as possible. Third question, simply put I have no idea why you weren't fully possessed, it could be your avatar status, or maybe the mental conditioning of your father, or maybe even a combination of different things, it's not really that important, you're quite sane, for someone who lives in Nerima that is."

"Alright suppose I just accept all that you've told me what happens now?"

"I'll get there don't worry. First you need to know what happened to bring me here. You see your new friend Peter Devon used an advanced Reiki technique to overcome your physical conditioning, basically he synched his ki with yours as much as possible and tricked your body into thinking it was yourself doing it. That allowed the master to pour healing ki through your muscles relaxing them, it had a side effect of also healing some of the psychic scars you had allowing Us to sense the demon for the first time. The rest as they say is history."

"Hardly, so what happened to me? I mean I've still got a demon in me an it's gonna take me over."

"That is no longer an issue, the Goddess Xeras exorcised your demon."

"You mean I'm free of the Neko-ken? Ranma winced as she straightened up too quickly for her body to handle the influx of pain

"That is correct, you've lost access to the Neko-ken, but that's really no great loss. As a side benefit you're no longer phobic of felines."

"You mean I'm not gonna scream like a girl the next time I see a cat?"

"Technically you were never actually afraid of cats."

"Huh?"

"You were actually afraid of Neko-demons which your mind saw everytime you saw a cat. This is what your mind told you was there whenever you'd see a cat." The tall man waved a hand and a replica of the Neko-demon appeared on the floor in front of Ranma.

"Gaaaaah! Get it away!" Ranma almost screamed as she backed over the chair and crouched behind it not even noticing the pain of earlier.

"Ranma, open your eyes. You aren't really afraid of this anymore you know, it's just a conditioned response now." Ranma reluctantly opened her sky blue eyes and observed the appearance of the Neko-demon.

"That thing was inside me?" She whispered in a barely audible squeak.

"Yes it was. This is an exact replica of the demon that was inside you. If it had grown as normal you wouldn't be alive and the demon would have looked something like this." The form in front of him expanded and moved to an upright position, its ears nearly brushed the ceiling. The creature also became more muscular expanding an already powerful chest, the arms and legs also appeared to have doubled in proportion to the rest of the body. Long claws extended from the tip of each finger, its back claws are fairly sharp but they're mainly for traction not fighting."

"I guess that means I should say thanks, I…"

"Thanks are unnecessary, if anything we owe you an apology. Anyway back to the story, if you'll remember there are only two sides playing the game? You might ask what happened to the third sibling?..." He paused for a moment to see if Ranma would ask about the third sibling and then gave up with a sigh. "Or maybe not. So I'll tell you anyway, the third sibling refused to play and went off to sulk just like I said. But now It's back and it wants to play, it has one goal also and that is the total destruction of the gameboard. Though It is held in check by Its siblings It makes moves such as the one that infected you with an unlimited Neko-demon. Don't ask as I won't explain what I meant be that, I will say that it has nothing to do with you now. The move has been defeated and your life should return to a semblance of normal. Meaning you're still a chaos magnet, but you're no longer an avatar of chaos. Call it recompense for all the damage that's been done to you."

"So that's it, my lifes been like hell for the past fourteen years and all I get is a thanks, so long and see ya later?"

"What would you suggest we do for you Ranma?" The tall man in front of Ranma smiled as he straightened in His seat. The cold look that entered His eyes froze Ranma where he stood.

"I'd suggest you piss off Mercury before I hand you your head." Both occupants in the room whirled to find a tall dark clad man leaning against the door jamb.

To be continued…..

Authors note)- You always suspected there were Kami laughing their heads off at poor Ranma's predicament. Well now you know the truth of it. You might ask who is that tall dark stranger who appeared from nowhere. Well you'll just have to wait for the next chapter. Lol. There's a slight Ah Megisama crossover here though you won't be seeing any of the real cast from Oh My Goddess!! It's only a cameo so don't expect Ranma to spend too much time with the Kami, it's only while he's unconscious and the cleanup crew is onsite. I think the chapter stands on its own merits, if you like it or hate it I'd like to hear why, so please review.

For those waiting for an update of 'Who's a Pokemon Master.' I have to apologise, I released a story that wasn't really ready for release yet. The update is in the works but it's going to take a few weeks possibly, or if it flows smoothly it may be out sooner. I won't set a time in concrete, it doesn't work that way for me. Imagination comes as it will, and doesn't always translate to paper as well as I hope it will. I shall persevere though and will update as soon as possible.

Nadir is the lowest point of something as opposed to the apex which is the highest point.

Mercury was the messenger of the gods in the Roman pantheon, he like many of the roman deities was stolen from the Greek pantheon where he was known as Nike. So Mercury's mode of dress is a sort of joke, i.e. he's wearing Nike brand clothes. Nuff said.


	14. Chapter 14

Phoenix Ascension

Chapter 14

Disclaimer)- The author wishes to express the knowledge that he doesn't own the characters in this fanfic unless he actually does, erm the OC's anyway. If you choose not to accept this disclaimer you will explode in five seconds. (I always wondered what happened to the tape if they didn't choose to accept the mission?)

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Ranma's eyes widened as she heard in a threatening voice, "I'd suggest you piss off Mercury before I hand you your head." Both occupants in the room whirled to find a tall dark clad man leaning against the door jamb. Over his shoulder could be seen the hilt of a Chinese straight sword

"Pak Tai! What are you doing so far from your centre?"

"I could ask you the same question Mercury, but I know the answer. As for me you know who I am, and you know why I'm here."

"Your presence is not required any more, he's no longer under the protection of the gods."

"If what you said is true, I ain't ever been under the protection of the gods!" Ranma huffed as she scrutinized the new addition to her 'not' dream world, he stood just over six feet, but he seemed taller to her ki senses and his shape felt wrong. He was Asian in appearance that much she could tell and probably Chinese, other than that he was pretty non-descript, he dressed completely in black silk in the same way that Ranma herself normally dressed. His slippered feet hardly made a sound as he moved, and the grace of his movement was enough to make Ranma jealous. If Ranma were any judge she knew this man was a master of martial arts far beyond her own level.

"True Ranma, once of Clan Saotome, and now a prospective member of Clan Itsunagi."

"You know me?" Ranma quirked a brow at the man in query.

"Yes I know of you, I have been watching you closely since I was informed of my duties as your guardian. Now it's my duty to dispel most of the fairy tale Mercury just gave you. While it was true it had very little to do with you. Like you said He says a great deal without actually giving you much information."

"How dare You? I've given her the information I was told to give her. It's more than enough for her to understand what the stakes were."

"Yes and you've done a fine job of muddying the waters, the Jade Emperor however disagrees with the way this is being handled. When I asked Him for permission to give Ranma full disclosure of how close he was to dying right here He was quite happy to accept. You are in My sphere of influence now so do be careful as you leave."

"Your influence extends only to China."

"Incorrect Mercury, my influence extends wherever martial arts are practiced. You on the other hand are far from the Mediterranean, if I were You I'd watch my step. You are far away from your home and well beyond your time of potency." The dark eyes of Xuan Wu watched as Mercury's blue eyes widened in shock, it wasn't considered polite to bring the impotence of the ancient pantheon to light in such a brutal manner. Mercury's time was indeed long past, once the messenger of all the gods in the heavens He'd been replaced over time as the technology of Yggdrassil had improved to the point that He was obsolete. Now He was a ceremonial messenger only and then only to mortals as the Gods preferred to rely on the newer technology.

"I can take it from here Mercury, I'm sure you can find your way home."

"Hold up, what'd you mean die? I thought I was safe?"

"You are, now, but you were far from safe earlier." His head snapped around to glare at Mercury. "I thought I told you to leave."

"I'll go, but you haven't heard the last of this." With His last word the Nike clad God shimmered and was gone leaving Ranma alone with the dark God.

"I think I have." He shrugged as He dismissed the others final threat. "Now where was I?"

"You were about to explain why I nearly died."

"Ah yes, the first attempt to use you was as a conduit for a Neko demon, the second only came to be when your new acquaintance Peter Devon healed some psychic scarring on your body revealing a demonic power signature. As is the case with much demonic magic it tends to hide itself so that the Gods can't tell what the other side is up to. The Neko demon was supposed to have corrupted you and gained its freedom by feeding off of your body from the inside out, it would have shed you like a skin."

"Yeah that's what that guy said, so what's different?"

"What He didn't tell you, was what happened after our sensors picked up the Neko demon. To try and hide the fact that you were already possessed by a demon It released a Class one Category one unlimited Mother type demon. It knew we'd stop the Neko demon but figured to save the situation by releasing something much more powerful through you, and I do mean through you, with a Neko demon inside you you'd become a portal, one that would have sacrificed both you and the Neko demon. If the Mother had of escaped into the mortal realm We'd have had to cauterize the island of Okinawa. Nothing would have survived such a procedure. Failing to escape it would have done what Mothers do, it would have seeded an egg in your womb and then returned to Hell where Its forces are." He watched as Ranma placed a hand on her stomach and went pale. "Yes, exactly Ranma, you've been manipulated into coming to the one place where your curse would be guaranteed to lock, they'd already used Prince Herb and Khu Lon to do the same thing but Its forces were not in place to take advantage of the situation. That's precisely what would have happened, the gestation time for a demon is roughly six weeks and when the egg hatches the resulting demon would be born into the world the quickest way, it would have torn its way out of your body. Again you wouldn't have survived."

"So I take it that's not gonna happen now? Let me get this straight this thing tried to kill me three times?"

"If it were going to happen you wouldn't be here, you'd already be in the next world. There is no way We can allow a demon to be born in such a way. It would be part mortal and part demon and as such it couldn't be banished to Hell like an ordinary demon. Such a demon could crash the World Tree, it wouldn't happen instantly but over time it'd gain power warping the world around it. Eventually it would destroy this world, and then it would move on until its power warped the very universe to the breaking point. As for trying to kill you three times, not really, you were just unlucky enough to meet certain criterion. You were an Avatar of Chaos, you were physically trained as much as a child of your age could possibly be trained, when you managed to survive you only became a more attractive target as your power grew. Plans were laid to open up even more avenues to use you. You were given a curse so that you could be used in the manner I described before."

"Son of a bitch! So what happened?"

"Well Heavens special forces were deployed to shield you while Asgaroth the God of the Amazons attempted to dispatch the Mother. He succeeded but as everyone was about to celebrate the Neko demon decided to come out to play, it took out one of the Valkyrie named Mia. She'll survive but there was a price to be paid, she'll never have full use of her wings again."

"That's…..I…."

"You don't need to worry about it, all that can be done is being done, the trouble is that the damage was done by a demon and that makes it very hard to heal properly. Anyway you're now free of demonic influences and It will move on with other plans to disrupt the game. Now I know that you are at risk, I'll be watching closely to make sure it doesn't happen again, not that it's likely."

"So what happened to the Neko demon thingy?"

"It was returned to the Dark Lords crèche where it'll mature in the normal way. I'm not sure why it didn't mature once it possessed you. Maybe Mercury was correct with one of his suppositions but we'll never really know." He watched the young martial artist before him. "I need to know though, would you object to me trying to find out which method your father used to limit you mental development?"

"You're a God, you don't need to ask me."

"Yes… I do, that's the difference between O-Kami-Sama and the Dark Lord. We don't assume that We have the right to run roughshod over the rights of the mortals on this world. So may I?"

"Uh, yeah sure, I was kind of curious myself."

"Get comfortable please this could take some time, if you could also meditate it would make it much easier." He waited for Ranma to comply with His request. "Just relax, this might feel weird."

Weird wasn't the word that Ranma would use, the gods presence washed over him like a tsunami leaving behind a sense that he'd been scrutinized atom by atom which was pretty close to what had happened. Then Pak Tai entered Ranma's mind and sifted through his memories, as He did so Ranma relived each of them causing his currently female body to shudder in reaction at some of the worst moments in his life right back to and including the moment he was born and before it. Then she felt a tap on her shoulder and opened her eyes.

"So?"

"Well it probably won't surprise you to know that your father was a selfish man."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"Alright, there's the fact that you've been emotionally limited since shortly after your fifth birthday. Your father used a pressure point that shouldn't ever be used in fact it's a proscribed move that isn't taught anymore. It is punishable by death to use it, but it's very hard to prove unless you catch the person in the act. It promotes physical development at the expense of mental development. There's a flaw to the technique though, once you reach a point where the body reaches its natural limit your mind starts to develop in such a way that it augments the physical side of things. You would still have been immature but you'd still be able to get stronger through your ki abilities. Mercury was also correct when He said that you've nearly rid yourself of the blockage. Push past your previous limit of four chakra and your ki will overcome the pressure point."

"So what'll happen after that?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know? What do you mean you don't know?"

"I mean I don't know, I've never had to intervene in such a case before and the victim usually never gains the power to break free of the pressure point by themselves. You're a first in so many different ways especially if you reach five chakra. If I were you I'd do it as soon as possible though, you may endanger people if you overpower the pressure point while stressed. Of course it might have very little effect on you, I just don't know."

"So where to now, I mean I assume I'm gonna wake up sometime?"

"You'll wake up in a while, you'll be the only person to remember any of this happening though and only because you need to remember. When the demons attacked they managed to level most of the block."

"Shit, how many people are hurt, where're my friends? Is anyone…dead?"

"There aren't any injuries now, though there were quite a few people who wouldn't have survived without intervention. The clean up has rebuilt the area and everyone's memories have been modified for a period of about half an hour, their new memories will show them doing something they'd expect themselves to be doing. For example Peter Devon will remember giving you a massage so you'd probably do well to reinforce that memory for him. His assistant has the same memory."

"How'd I know this ain't a dream then?"

"Oh you'll know," The room began to waver around them, "now you're waking up. Relax and go with the flow." With that He stood and left through the front door to the beauty salon even as it faded to darkness.

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Nabiki slung her book bag into the corner and slumped onto her bed, it'd been a long half Saturday at school and she was glad to be home. Gone were the exciting battles that graced the mornings as Kuno clashed with Saotome in both his forms, even Akane seemed listless with her ex-fiancé absent. At least they had the promise that he'd return in a few months, one thing they all knew about Ranma was that his word was his bond.

Getting up she shucked her school uniform for her more comfortable day clothes and sat down at her desk, it was too early to be doing homework at just past one in the afternoon especially as she'd have all day tomorrow to deal with it. It was time to handle the books for the day, a day that hadn't been as profitable as it normally would have been. Most people had already bought the information that Ranma was gone, even if none of them knew where exactly it was he'd disappeared. Rumour was running wild at the moment with some thinking that the Kunos were heading for Hokkaido in what they thought was hot pursuit, others insisted that Ranma was on Shikoku or Kyushu. One thing they were all sure of was that Ranma wouldn't stay on Honshu, not with all the problems he needed to get away from.

She smiled at the thought. Of course there was no one here at the moment that cared enough to actually track him down, Ryoga hadn't been around and besides he didn't have enough money to buy that information from her, not anymore. Speaking of money Nabiki turned her agile mind to the subject that she'd been discussing with the pig-tailed martial artist before he left, was it really less than a week ago.

She'd thought of becoming Ranma's manager a number of times over the nearly three years she'd known him, but that entailed trust, a trust that had been sorely lacking since she herself had become his fiancée six months before Akane and Ranma's failed wedding. She'd abused what little trust he still had for her. To the point that she sometimes wondered what she'd done to warrant being given a second chance after the wedding attempt.

She sighed as she pondered the current situation, if she was reading it right it seemed that Ranma had declared open season on himself, to the point that half the females at Furinkan had the look of Elmer Fudd. She snickered at the thought of a number of teenaged girls sneaking around and saying to themselves, 'Be vewy, vewy quiet, I'm hunting Ranma's, au-au-au-au-ah-hah.' Not that Ranma thought of it that way, but where before there had been no hope as the super-powerful martial artist fiancée squad had the title sown up even if it wasn't known which of them held that special place in his heart. Now there was a glimmer of hope.

Now they could do more than just dream, if they played their cards right, and they couldn't play them any worse than the girls who already had a claim on him had, then they just might be the one to be called girlfriend, others aspired for more but realistically they knew they'd have to start from scratch without a certain Panda-man to up the odds for them.

Again she sighed, she hadn't meant to be caught up in that aspect of things herself, but let's face it, with that body and the clueless aura he carried where anything other than the art was involved and he was nigh on irresistible. Add in the fact that he would literally walk through fire for the person he loved, a fact he'd proved at Jhusendo when he faced Saffron, he was one of, if not the best marital prospect in Nerima. The only downside was that he wasn't nearly as bankable as he was bonkable, as she'd heard one of the girls say. Nabiki knew better, oh he didn't have any money to his name but she knew that was only a matter of having a good woman to back him, someone who knew about that kind of thing. As a business minded individual she knew potential when she saw it.

She sighed yet again but this time there was a definite dreamy overtone to it, which she caught and suppressed ruthlessly, it wouldn't do to get caught acting like a total ninny by anyone who might enjoy her discomfort and the subsequent disintegration of her 'Ice Maiden' persona. Slapping both her cheeks briskly she managed to pull her mind back form the precipice and refocus on the computer terminal that had booted up a few minutes ago and was currently waiting for her to do something other than gaze at the screen.

Pulling up the folder marked 'Wild Stallion' from a sub-folder with four others, each marked with the name of the Jhusenkyou curse they bore. Ranma was the odd one out, but his name translation allowed her to keep the animal theme. Cat, duck, panda and pig, were the others, each contained a fount of information regarding their respective individuals and their abilities. Double-clicking on Ranma's folder she opened the new folder she'd started on Monday and gazed at the titles, rubbing her hands together she opened the first document and got down to her favourite hobbies, making plans and making money, not necessarily in that order

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Nodoka couldn't remember ever being as happy as she was now, and yet underneath there was a shadow that marred it. Something that stopped her happiness from being as complete as it should be. It should have been the dancing and singing in the rain kind of happiness, she had her son back, the person she'd sacrificed so much of herself for, and yet something was missing, but not. Too tell the truth she was confused, she was counting the moments until she could join her son on Kanakita Island. The hours and days never went by so slowly when she was alone, now it was like the slow progression of an icefloe, inexorable but so slow that you couldn't believe it was actually moving.

Why? Well she had begun to believe she was missing something that she'd never believed she would. Her husband had been silent and still for nearly a week, something she'd often wished for when he was capable of spouting his usual nonsense, but when her wish was finally granted she balked. She wanted to know why he didn't wake, and the doctors only stood there wringing their hands and explaining that they'd done everything they could, the pressure on his skull had been relieved and he should have woken by himself already. Then they went on to say that sometimes for no apparent reason a person who was otherwise in perfect health would stay in a coma for indefinite periods of time.

She had a flashback to the last time the doctors had wrung their hands and handed down a verdict she didn't like, the doctors now were more respectful of women, but not much. Then she'd just been diagnosed with cancer and told that for her to have any chance of survival she'd have to have them removed, they'd done the tests and redone the tests and each time they'd shown her the same result, he'd even called in a second doctor to confirm his diagnosis. Then the two doctors had left the couple to grieve for the loss, she'd live but with the surgery they told her she needed she would never have another child.

At that point in time Ranma became the most important thing in the world to her, surpassing her family, her husband even herself in her mind. She was no longer the woman she thought she should have been, they'd taken that from her with an hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy which basically meant they'd removed her Uterus, cervix and ovaries to remove any chance of the cancer spreading. After the surgery she'd been changed, the anti-depression tablets she'd been given didn't touch her feelings of self loathing at the fact that she was no longer a woman in the true sense of the word. They'd told her it didn't make a difference in who she was, but she had taken a direct hit in her self image, something she wouldn't allow her son to suffer. Where she couldn't be a woman amongst women, her son would be a man amongst men.

After six months she came out of the depression a ew person, she never thought of herself as a woman again, she was Nodoka Saotome and her son would be the greatest member of that clan that'd ever lived. Where she would never have another child, he would be the father of many, oh yes she'd had it all planned. She never knew why her husband chose to disappear with her child at that time, but they did and she learned what true pain is.

Two years after her husband left, a minor clerk studying cases in the hopes of gaining enough confidence to go to medical school came across a file that appeared to have been purposely misfiled. He'd been there four years and it was only a small hospital, so he knew every doctor there, and many of the other permanent staff, and the two doctors that had diagnosed the case had never worked at this hospital. His eyes widened as he reviewed the case looking for some clue as to why he knew nothing about them and widened further as he noticed something else out of place. Then picking the file up he'd rushed to the hospital administration office. He'd recognized the name of the operating surgeon.

Nodoka opened her door later that week to find her Grand-father standing there, along with a number of men in suits. She hadn't been fully recovered from her husbands abandonment and kidnapping of their child at that stage, but she'd been close. Then they'd shattered her world for the third time. It seemed that neither of the doctors who diagnosed her with cancer were in fact doctors, they didn't know who they were, but they did know that the surgeon who'd operated on her had been jailed for malpractice, they'd discovered that her files had been tampered with and the test results were someone else's, a fact that a competent surgeon would have discovered after she'd been opened up. She was a victim of a crime, but they had no leads, the surgeon had died three weeks after his court case that revoked his license and they had no way to track two average looking men purporting to be doctors nearly three years ago.

Then she returned to Kanakita for the first time in nearly ten years, heavily sedated and in the presence of family. It was a long time before she started to recover, but her Grand-father knew how to motivate her, he told her the only way the people who purposely ruined her life could win is if she let them. The fire had returned to her that day and never since left. She began her training again and slowly rebuilt her skills and strength, surpassing where she once was after a year, she was now as driven as her rival Makodai had been after she defeated him. Makodai learned the hard way that she was fully recovered when he'd make a snide comment about her not being a woman, it'd taken five people to drag her off his broken unconscious body. It was a mistake he'd never make again as she left the island that day to return to her home and wait for the promised day when her son would return to her.

Her family saw only the psychological damage, they never knew the man she'd married. He had been different in those early years and she never understood what had changed him. Her family hated Genma for her pain, and for the actions he perpetrated on her son, but Nodoka remained confused even to this day.

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Genma Saotome floated disembodied in a dark void, completely divorced from the realm of the five senses, he couldn't see or feel anything, no sound penetrated wherever he was, and smell and taste were absent, not even a trace of anything around him. He couldn't even claim knowledge of himself, he tried to move and felt nothing, he spoke but nothing came out, as time passed he became more and more desperate for a sensation, anything to break through to him, but nothing did. He couldn't even tell how long he'd been wherever he was as he had nothing to gauge it by. He knew one thing, if he didn't 'feel' something soon he'd go mad. He tried to avoid it but in the end his very denial brought his deepest fear to the forefront and that was that he'd spend eternity like this, or maybe eternity had already been and gone and come around again. He could feel it in the back of his mind, a primordial scream that he tried to shove back into his mind even as it gathered strength.

'Real men don't scream!' the thought echoed back at him mockingly, 'Scream-eam-eeeeem! Real, don't men, scream! Men Scream….' The words continued to echo through his mind, sometimes so loud that they threatened his sanity and others a mere susurration that barely registered, and slowly, so slowly they died after an interminable time. Then he felt nothing again, he wasn't game to try to scream his defiance again.

Later the dreams began, no not dreams but memories. He began to remember his life with his wife, before Ranma and how happy they'd become after the arranged marriage. The first time he'd held his new-born son in his rough calloused hands. The first time Ranma had gotten a good grasp on his fathers once hirsute head and joked with his wife that a martial artists life was fraught with peril and the sweet clear laughter she'd shared with him that caused his soul to light up.

They'd begun to train their son before he could even crawl, of holding him close between them and matching their breath to his and gradually leading their synchronised breaths into the correct patterns for a martial artist. Of the endless patience as the early attempts failed, and the jubilation when they finally succeeded.

Ranma's first steps, first word and the time just after Ranma's third birthday when they'd danced together for the first time as father and son. He'd been so proud that tears had sprung to his eyes when he'd realised that his son was clumsily trying to emulate his father doing kata. How he'd called Nodoka to come see in that special voice that told their that her precious son was involved, and then she'd appeared with camera in hand, she'd added rolls of photos to the album that day and nearly twenty minutes of Ranma's first lesson to their cine film collection,.

He wondered for a moment whether those films and photographs still existed, he'd love to see them again and relive those memories of a sweet time in his life. The time before the doctors brought their happy world crashing down around them. She'd changed after the surgery, that he'd expected to happen. What he never understood because she'd never talk about it to him was her feelings of inadequacy, that she was no longer the woman she'd married. He tried to help but didn't know where to start. Eventually things seemed to return to normal, except that Nodoka seemed to fixate on their son being a man amongst men. He was a martial artist and didn't recognise it as the cry for help that it was, he thought it was what she needed, what she wanted. He'd began to make plans that day, her son would be a man amongst men if he had anything to say about it. His definition of what constituted a man was distorted by his profession. To him a man was invincible, strong, and fast but even more so a man needed to know for what he fought. He knew what Bushido was, he lived it every day. That was something he could teach his son, speed and strength were only a matter of time, the one thing he couldn't give his son was invincibility. So began the search for something that could, six months he searched until he found it, in a little bookshop, he'd found the ratty manual for the Neko-ken and read it. He smiled for the first time in months that day, 'Finally!' He didn't even notice the slight echo in the word. He noticed it now though, "What was that?" He examined the memory closer focusing his senses as much as possible, he came to the conclusion that something else spoke the same word he did at the exact same time, an insidious thought began to worm its way into his mind. What if it didn't match me, but that it made me match it?

Somewhere far away and so close that they were almost touching an entity smiled, so close now.

Genma shook the thought after a moment dismissing it as unimportant, after all he was a powerful martial artist and he could handle anything. He went on after a little while reliving his memories of the early months of his betrayal of Nodoka. Betrayal? 'No, I didn't betray her, I was doing what she wanted!' The words echoes in his mind as his earlier denial had, leaving him in pain as his senses overloaded, the echoes finally died leaving only one last coherent echo, 'was I doing what she wanted?"

Time passed, how much he'd never know, but it must be, the memories kept coming. He screamed with his son as he relived the Cat-fist training, looking on in horror as he dropped his son who appeared shell shocked into the pit of starving cats over and over again. He remembered things that he'd forgotten if he'd ever noticed them in the first place. He watched the training journey unfold in a new light. He saw his gradual descent into thievery and fraud, how he'd leave the work to his son and call it training while he sat down and watched while drinking away his child's earnings. His training methods changed becoming more abusive and dangerous, and through it all came the driving back-beat, 'Must be a man, must be a man.' Then the memories caught up with the present and he watched as the meeting in the living room of the Tendo dojo unfolded right up to the point where Kasumi had punched him with a ki laden fist, 'How? Nice follow through.' Even here he was a sensei and could admire the punch even if he didn't exactly like the outcome.

Everything went blessedly dark, then when he was relaxed they started again, right from the beginning, Genma screamed out his protest but went unheard as they inexorably drove onwards, the slight echo as he held the book the first time bothered him again, and then he forgot it. The third time through the memories something cracked inside him, he didn't hear it but more felt it. Through the seventh time he finally felt it shatter and reform into something new, the realisation that he'd been tricked, used by a book. How, he didn't know, but if he ever escaped here that book would be destroyed in a moment

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Akane arrived home from school that afternoon and enacted what was becoming a ritual for them. Her father waited in the dojo where he'd been for the better part of the day though he told her that the time he spent with his daughters was the better part of any day. He waited as she dove past and thundered into the house to change into her gi. Moments later she'd emerge and engage her father in a light spar, light was a relative term as her father regained his lost skills she found out that the old man was much stronger than she was. She'd often wondered where it came from and now she knew.

When Soun Tendo held up his hand to stop the spar he'd gaze at his daughter with pride. She was much stronger than he was at her age and faster too. He actually had to work for his hits, not nearly as hard as she did, but then again he was nearly thirty years older than she was and correspondingly more experienced. When she had his age she would surpass him in the art, who was he kidding? If Ranma were here to spar with her she'd be better than he was in a few months, still nowhere close to Ranma's skills but still she'd be better than everyone but him.

"Alright student, you have shown great progress today. Now I want you to meditate on the fight we just had. Remember each detail, each move and how it connected to the next. Do you understand?"

"Yes sensei!" Akane called back to her father. In here they were related in only one way, that of teacher and student. Each would strive to be the best they could be and the meditation was part of that. She entered a lotus position and relaxed into the curious state of mind, here she could watch everything they'd done in the spar and see things she'd missed in the heat of battle.

She winced as she watched herself over-extend on a punch but she paid the price as her father had used it to pivot her around and slam her facedown into the floor, she'd used the momentum of the fall to swing her legs around in an attempt to sweep him, and rolled over to her back as he'd stepped over the sweep almost contemptuously until her other foot came up to meet him and realized the sweep was a feint, he smiled, jack-knifed his body in a move that Genma the aerial specialist would envy and drove a finger into the arch of her foot. She'd be limping for a few days with that one, but she'd remember not to underestimate an airborne opponent again.

Her father came down almost on top of her causing her to scramble away and gain her feet, she knew she was at a definite disadvantage while still on the floor, even if the deficit in skills wasn't telling her the same thing. From there the fight had gained a kind of rhythm that she'd fallen into, which was another mistake, she allowed her father to control the pace of the fight, so when he changed the tempo she was unprepared and took several heavy blows, one of which left her ears wringing. She retaliated instantly and landed a return blow just under his floating rib causing his air to be expelled rapidly.

He'd gone over backwards so fast that she thought for a moment that she'd actually done damage and rushed forwards, his foot striking her shin had shown her the error in her ways and thrown her into the air in an uncontrolled tumble, his other foot met her stomach and propelled her even higher, unable to correct her flight she tried to remain relaxed so the landing wouldn't hurt as much. Akane had failed miserably and let out an 'Ooomph!' as she landed knocking all the air from her body.

"Nice strike student, but you let your guard down." He stood over her and reached down to help her up only to slide to one side, her hand held in his as he let her foot slide past his lanky frame. "Nice try," he said as he pulled her up so fast she left the ground, his free hand came around and smacked into her shins as he pulled her trapped hand downwards and sent her tumbling across the floor. That had been extremely embarrassing for her as she came to rest against the far wall, upside down. When she'd regained her ready posture on unsteady feet he'd called the sparring session to a close. She smiled to herself as she thought about the spar, she'd been out-classed from start to finish, but that was to be expected, her father wouldn't be much of a teacher if he couldn't mop the floor with her. It hadn't been their first spar, but this time she fancied she could see something else in his eyes, the burgeoning respect he had for her was growing and she could feel her heart expand almost painfully with the emotion she no longer kept bottled up inside her.

That first night that Ranma had gone she'd cried herself to sleep, but the next day when she'd seen her father in his gi practicing for the first time in years she'd felt hope. He'd actually trained her that day, and she'd watched his form improve in quantum leaps as she pushed him like she tried to do with Ranma. At first he'd tried to treat her like porcelain, all fragile, breakable. She'd soon put paid to that notion as she'd decked him, his response had been instinctive and he'd driven his elbow into her as she passed him, they'd landed ten feet apart and looked at each other.

Akane had surprised him by actually giggling like a school girl, which she was, and then she'd risen with a slight wince as she got back to her feet, a wince that was repeated a moment later as Soun got back into his ready stance. It was then that they both made the discovery that she wouldn't break so easily. A revelation that she would later wish came at a later date, like maybe when she was ninety. After that it was pretty much no holds barred as he attempted to learn the limits of her endurance and durability, he'd carried her from the dojo and put her to bed for the second time, with a kiss to her forehead he'd left her to sleep until dinner.

That night she cried again but this time it was happiness, she finally had the father she remembered. He still slipped into melancholy a few times but on the whole he was a different man. Akane didn't know which Kami to thank for the changes but she would, she owed them so much.

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Ranma opened her eyes and gazed at the carpet through the hole in the massage table. What she could see of the room seemed unchanged and she could feel both Sachiko and Peter standing beside the table, out beyond them her friends and the bustle of a city full of life could be sensed. Peter and his student were discussing the technique the older man had used to circumvent the Bakusai Tenketsu conditioning.

"So you see Sachiko, you're not trying to push your ki into the persons body, you're trying to trick it into believing it's all been doing it on its own. Try it, first use your ki senses to get a feel for the ki of the patient and then try to match it. Don't worry if it takes time, that's to be expected, this is the next level that I was about to teach you by the way." His hands moved down Ranma's back causing her to groan as she felt the muscle release tension that she hadn't even known was there.

"Ah Ranma back with us I see, you must have been very relaxed you fell asleep."

"Uh yeah, though I had some really weird dream. So we nearly finished?"

"Oh yes, just a few minutes more." He went back to working, with both the girls now paying attention to what he was doing. Ranma picked up the required technique almost in passing as it was very similar to the way she'd overcome Ryoga's physical conditioning in their fight the day before. Though she hadn't had to match her ki to his as she only had to overcome the Bakusai for a moment for the strike to be effective.

"You could probably do this for yourself Ranma, though I'd advise you to be careful until you have better control of your ki." He looked up at a knock on the door. "Okay Ranma it looks like that's our session over for the day. I'll leave you to get a shower and get dressed. With that the old man straightened up from his crouch and headed for the door with Sachiko following close behind. Ranma just lay there for a moment savouring the tingling sensation that ran from head to toe, then she got up and prepared to join the others outside. She buttoned up the last closure on her shirt and then left the room looking around for any sign that a titanic battle had levelled the building, finding none she shrugged. Maybe it was all a dream after all, she'd certainly had stranger since she'd started living in Nerima.

Yumi sat in the waiting area for her new friend to see for herself how Ranma was doing after her first run in with a beauty parlour. Catching sight of movement in the hallway she rushed up to greet her.

"Heya Ranma, so how was it?"

"Yeah really good Yumi, I don't remember feeling this relaxed in a long time."

"So you'll be coming back with us next time?"

"Nah, I don't think so. The guy who did my massage said I could probably do it myself from now on, so I'm gonna try that first."

"You're not supposed to steal the massage techniques, and how do you do it for yourself?"

"Well turns out I'm a tough customer in more ways than one. Sachiko had to call in her Reiki sensei to work on me as my body worked against her massage. What he used on me was pure Reiki and not massage, so I can duplicate the ki usage over my whole body. Let me tell ya it felt so relaxing I was asleep through most of it."

"So you can do that for other people too huh?"

"I suppose so. Speaking of techniques, you're not breathing right Yumi."

"Damn it!" Yumi took stock of her breathing and refocused on the ki gathering exercise Ranma had taught her.

"Don't damn it, just do it. That's better." Ranma smiled. "Hey where're the others?"

"Oh they're waiting for us at that ice-cream shop you wanted to check out earlier, so come on we'd better make a dash for it if we want ice-cream before heading back to the plane." Ranma walked over to the cashier and paid for herself and Sayuri, she handed over sixteen thousand yen and then followed her friend out the door. Turning right they walked down the street in companionable silence, Ranma pondering her dream and Yumi concentrating on her breathing, which was tougher while walking around. It was much easier when they were sitting and meditating, but like Ranma said there wasn't much point to the exercise if you didn't practice it all the time.

Ranma was so deep I her internal review of the dream that she almost didn't feel the slight spike of ki, it flashed again this time grabbing her attention and bringing her eyes up in time to see a smiling Pak Tai as he turned on his heel and started to walk away. She turned to her friend.

"I'll catch up with you in a second, I just remembered something I've got to do." Without waiting for a reply she was gone leaving a blinking Yumi to wonder what in hell just happened.

Ranma was already half a block away from her friend when she saw her quarry turn into an alleyway up ahead. Following him at speed she leapt, landing twenty feet up the alley wall parallel to the ground to break her momentum before stepping down and continuing pursuit. What she saw was a long alley with no way to exit other than over the rooftops, a few doors that gave access to their respective shops. What she didn't see was any evidence that Pak Tai had come this way, Ranma slumped as she'd really wanted to talk to the deity one last time, after all it wasn't everyday you met up with one of the gods of martial arts. Giving up she headed for the ice-cream parlour, if a god didn't want to speak with her who was she to argue.

The Itsunagi twins along with Leiji and Yumi were waiting anxiously for her when she arrived, they were running out of time if they wanted to make the plane.

"Come on Ranma we can still make the plane. I don't want to be late to my classes tomorrow." They all climbed into the taxi that they'd flagged and headed for the terminal. The taxi pulled up outside Naha airport with twenty minutes to spare, Xuan Tian Shang Di, the Chinese god of martial arts, also known as Pak Tai in the South stood in a store front and watched as one of his new favourite martial artists passed not more than twenty metres in front of Him. "Don't worry, we'll meet again young man." He murmured before he stepped up to a mirror and disappeared.

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Authors notes:- Whoo-ee was that convoluted enough for everyone? Don't forget to review for me, I love to hear from you guys I really do.

People wondering about Genma may wonder no more, as I stated in the last chapter the document that carries the Neko-ken is a magical construct, as such it has power. A power athat is directed towards subverting a person who fits certain criterion, such as one of the deadly sins, greed, pride and sloth in this case. The book then amplifies those character flaws until they're overwhelming and form the base of the persons Psyche, Genma wasn't always that way.

Pak Tai, Xuan Wu and Xuan Tian Shang Di are one and the same, one of the Gods of martial artists, he also has an affinity for water, he has several other forms, including his true form which is a dark turtle with a serpent, how both creatures are him I don't know. He is also known as the 'Dark General of the North' on the celestial plane. There are four such generals one for each cardinal point, Pak Tai is the General of the North as stated and is the leader of the Generals, the Jade Emperor occupies the centre of the Celestial sphere as he should being the Emperor. Pak Tai is also, aren't you tired of that, he's the slayer of demons and is responsible for training the other generals and many of the better heavenly forces, the ones that led to the defeat of the demon forces, I don't know what the leader of the demons is called, please let me know if you do.

Well here ends another fun episode of Ranma's life, did you like it? I hope so, because I want to hear if you did or didn't and a reason why would be great.

See you next chapter, in a story not to far away.


	15. Chapter 15

Phoenix Ascension

Chapter 15 or for those who go in old terms Chapter 3M

Disclaimer)- Oh dear what can the matter be, don't own the – cha – rac – ters does he? Oh dear why can't the lawyers see? Oh dear what can they take from me, pity the poor little boy?

Khu Lon, respected Elder and indomitable matriarch of the Chinese Amazons sighed as she stepped from the umbilical that separated her plane from the terminal, she was relieved to be home again after her trip and the successful retrieval of her great grand daughter and the girls new husband. It had been a long time since anything had left her this drained but then the trip hadn't been responsible for that, no, that had been her Gods request for energy which she'd answered by tapping her reserves and giving them unstintingly, she'd given as much as she dared and would have given more if He asked. Thankfully He hadn't and she'd been able to begin the task of recovering the lost energy, a quick nap that lasted the remaining five hours of their flight had removed the pallor from her withered cheeks and returned the sparkle to her aged eyes but she hoped there were no more emergencies that required her attention, she wasn't even looking forward to the short trip to the Nekohanten and had decided to travel via taxi, an exorbitantly expensive undertaking in Tokyo when it was raining.

The children had born up rather well under the stress that she'd placed on their personal reserves of energy, though Xian Lon had yet to awaken after the drain on her ki, her husband had bounced back well and looked entirely too happy to be back in Japan again. It might also have had something to do with the fact his wife lay nestled in his arms as he carried her sleeping form into the terminal or maybe the possessive hand that grasped the edge of his robe even in sleep as if she were making sure he was still there. There was a joy in his body language that had been missing for the longest time, in fact she hadn't seen him like that since early childhood. For the second time she smiled at the outcome of her machinations, she had a worthy son in law even if he wasn't the first choice, he was definitely a very close second as he was almost as powerful as Ranma had been a year ago, and while the gap in their skills seemed to widen as time passed they had a friendly rivalry that spurred Mu Lon to greater heights. Oh yes he would make a worthy role model for the men back in the tribe. Neither of the children with her had even noticed the wording of the document that had changed their lives, it stated that her first two children would become the heirs of their respective families, it hadn't stated any preference for gender. So for the first time in known history the heir to one of the tribe's major families may be male.

She had to suppress the desire to cackle as she remembered the outrage in the Assembly of Elders when she'd stipulated her plans for the future of the tribe. She had been annoyed that she'd had to almost beat some of the more intractable council members over the head with the fact that the tribe as it was would die within the next few generations if they didn't stop the bleed of capable young men from the village. The wizened elder shuddered as she contemplated Mu Lon, the thought that they might have lost him and all the potential that he held. That would have been a true tragedy but there was the very real fear that for the males of the tribe that the rules that bound them would never change, that freedom from the draconian laws of inheritance would never change. The boy had always shown great dedication and she was grateful that most of it was directed at her heir or she feared he would have been gone many years before. Lo Zion had been the most vociferous member who had opposed the proposed changes to the laws of the tribe but eventually even she had admitted that she had to restrain her own son from leaving many years before and while he was only a son he was still her child and the thought of that loss was painful.

Yes, the contract that she'd signed regarding her great grand daughter had wrought many changes within the tribe, many of which would not be felt for a number of years, she could hope that at least one of the heirs to the two greatest families in the Amazon nation would be male, that would lead to a renaissance and hopefully save them from their own folly of the generations.

The elderly woman, though only a real fool would ever call her such, considered the life that had led to this place in time and smiled. There had been much pain but overall the good times far outweighed the bad times. 'Damn, I hate being this tired,' she thought to herself, 'makes me go all introspective.' She smiled grimly, she still had to make the journey back to the restaurant but that was alright as they'd get a taxi and be home in under an hour, roof hopping might be quicker but it would drain her depleted reserves too much, it would take long enough to renew them as it was, it would be maybe a month before she'd have them at a similar level as before her Gods request for power though her internal reserves would be fully recharged in a day or two especially with the advanced techniques that Ranma had come up with for that purpose. She always called her staff her most dangerous artifact and most assumed it had to do with the fact that she could put a crease in your skull with it or that it extended her already lethal reach, what few people alive knew was that it was so much more than a weapon, it also acted as a storage cell for her chi that she could draw upon when she needed something more powerful than she could muster normally. It also acted as a focus for some of her more mystical skills.

Speaking of which the next time she saw Ranma she'd have to ask if he wanted to take his knowledge to another level, he was strong as he was but even with all that power he was unlikely to live much past a hundred, many assumed her longevity had to do with her martial arts and to a certain extent they were correct but not as much as they thought they were. Longevity such as hers and Happosai's was only attainable under certain conditions and only a part of it required the acquisition of huge chi reserves. The rest of it had to do with the other two energy forms that most of the world considered even more mythical than chi, the first of which was Shen. Shen formed the basis of all magical workings that she'd ever seen, from the small love potions brewed in the tribe to the 'Pools of Sorrow' themselves, what is Shen some would ask, and to be honest she didn't know, it defied description other than it came from the mind only if certain energy was abundant. The Gods were the very embodiment of Shen in fact they were often called by that name especially if they had ascended from mortality as happened in the distant past. There was a hybrid form that the tribe called Chakra that called for the melding of Chi and Shen and was much more likely to happen now than the use of powerful pure Shen but even that was diminishing as time passed. Maybe she'd pass those skills on to the two best martial artists she knew so that the knowledge she had would not be lost, she often found it ironic that the most worthy students she could find were both male.

The last form of energy and the one that allowed a mortal to live longer than another was called Ching, according to ancient legend a person could live forever if they kept their store of Ching intact. In fact the very aging process was controlled by this strange and finite energy. Whereas Chi and Shen were infinite and renewable, for most the pool of Ching they held would be all they ever possessed. Ching according to those selfsame legends was the energy expended during sex, and each time a person had sex in their lives the reserve was depleted that much more, even fantasying or thinking about not having sex took some of this energy and when the store was completely dry then the person died, it was as simple and as complex as that. Some very powerful people had found ways around that, take Happosai for example, he had lived for a very long time by stealing women's underwear and groping them, most assumed he was stealing female Chi, but she knew better, Happosai was a Ching vampire. He only ever stole a small amount of this energy as he knew he was stealing some of that person's life force. It was for that reason he'd always lived in large cities rather than in villages. The pool of prospective victims meant that the overall lifespan of the population wouldn't be affected by his depredations. The fact he was a Ching vampire was the real reason he was anathema to the tribe. Khu Lon on the other hand had learned a different way to attain the same thing, she could combine infinitesimal amounts of Shen with her Chi and convert them into Ching, it was costly in terms of Chi but then again dying was costly in its own way as well.

The tribal elder pulled her passport out of her pouch and waved it in the direction of the customs officers who briefly perused the document before waving her and her entourage through, 'Oh the joys of having diplomatic immunity,' she thought, customs was something that happened to other people as far as she was concerned. Ten minutes later she cackled as the trio of Chinese nationals exited the airport, Mu Lon had surprised her, she'd thought he'd wake his sleeping wife when they went to retrieve their luggage but instead he'd pulled it into stuff space and left a surprise for the custodians of the airport in the form of one of his five hundred kilo training boulders. She wondered if they'd ever figure out how it got on the trolley in the first place. She'd have to knock that smug expression off the boys face later when they got home, though she wasn't sure she was up to the task as he cast a look at his wife again. The smile that lit his face was all the reason she needed to leave well enough alone.

"Come on son-in-law, if we hurry we should be able to get a taxi before there's a rush."

"Alright 'Old Ghoul' keep your hair on." Mu Lon smiled at his elder smugly as he thought he was safe from reprisals with her youngest relative ensconced in his embrace, he was almost right.

"You'll keep young man, I've been told you'll keep for up to six months if I freeze you right," she smiled as his smile drooped before he realized she was joking or at least he hoped she was.

"I apologize for my impertinence honoured elder Khu Lon and Matriarch of the tribe," he intoned in formal Chinese much to his elder's amusement.

"Oh you don't need to be so formal son-in-law you may call me grandmother," she laughed again as his jaw dropped and then cut him off, "and don't even think of calling me granny, I swear you'll wish I locked you in duck form if you do." He gulped in reaction knowing full well that it was no idle threat on her part.

The trip took almost an hour in which time she contemplated the course of action she would take now, she'd been the matriarch of he tribe for so long now that she wished to step down. The only people who could step into her shoes figuratively speaking were Lo Zion, who'd take the job over her dead body, meaning Lo Zion's dead body of course, Khu Lon had no intention of dying when the tribe was in such a precarious state. The other and much more favoured candidate in her opinion was Xi O'Pa more colloquially known as Soap amongst her peers; she had a certain flexibility and a pragmatism that could lead the tribe in new and exciting directions in the future. She'd pen the missive when she got home, there would be an election when she stepped down but if her personal choice were known then that person was almost assured of getting the position.

Now onto more pleasant thoughts, the children, and the next generation, when they got home there were a number of things she needed to give Xian Lon, not the least of which was a magical pendant that was to be suspended just over her navel while she was pregnant to protect the developing fetus, that would be a must as soon as possible. The family Lon had many enemies outside of the tribe who would not be able to pass up such a chance to cause her family harm, and they weren't averse to using the darker arts to do it either. The safest place for the two was within the walls of the tribe itself and she'd insist that they return to China as soon as possible. Xian was to be retrained anyway and the task had been given to the newly formed Amazon Academy of the Arts as the council deemed her attempts to mold the child to be less than satisfactory. Mu Lon on the other hand had nothing more that he could be taught, not that he wouldn't continue to learn, it was just that he was beyond the ability of any tribe member to teach him anything new. The only person who could was Ranma, who'd proven to have a remarkable ability for coming up with new things to do with the art and his ki. No, Mu Lon might be beyond being taught, but he wasn't beyond teaching what he knew, it might even do him the world of good as he would learn so much about himself while doing it.

She figured they should only remain in Tokyo for the rest of this week, then it should be safe for Xian Lon to travel, the baby would be more than secure by then and her own plans would be coming to fruition.

"Life is good," the matriarch murmured to herself, a sleepy 'huh?' from the backseat was her only answer as the taxi drove on towards the distant ward of Furinkan

/ \

The next morning found the Amazon elder in something of a quandary, the thing was that she had already made a few decisions that would influence her standing in the tribe, namely the fact that she wished to stand down as Matriarch even if her actions in the near future didn't force her to do so before hand. The problem was related to the fact that you couldn't hold a position as an elder if you weren't in fact an elder. She really should clear these muddy thought up, but she'd been going in circles for days, in fact ever since Ranma had bolted from Nerima like a scalded cat. She chuckled slightly at the imagery as Ranma was much more likely to bolt from a scalded cat. Not that she was a youth or likely to become one, it was just that appearances held a lot of significance when you held a title such as elder. If things went off the way she figured the last thing she'd look like is an old crone, in fact if she remembered the few times she'd seen her reflection in her youth she'd need her staff to beat off the importunate men wishing to possess her.

To stand a chance to even begin to understand the thought processes held in Khu Lon's mind one would first need to be privy to some secret information, so secret in fact that only one other knew anything about it. She'd learned the hard way that claiming to be the reincarnated warrior Khu Lon from the 'Times of Legends' was a good way to get punished as a youngster for being presumptive, so she would keep quiet until her naming day challenge where she would choose to take the name Khu Lon. Anyone hearing that she took it at that time would declare it an auspicious choice and that she would have to grow into it. Of course they had no way to know that she truly was 'the' Khu Lon from the 'Time of Legends' and that she'd knowingly been reincarnated five times since Asgaroth last walked the earth. When she first died at the age of a hundred and fifteen she'd been an accomplished master in many fields such as the martial arts and medicine, politics had been a major field of study for her once the old council of elders had rolled their dice against a God and lost, not that the word politics existed back then but the concept did. In each subsequent incarnation she'd built on the knowledge she'd gained in her previous lives garnering a deeper legend in respect to the name she bore. In the end it was known that a teenager would challenge the Matriarch for that name on her naming day and if she met that challenge then she would henceforth be known as Khu Lon and given great respect.

Several times throughout history pretenders had taken the challenge in the hope of special treatment if they passed the test, but they always failed as the test was truly harsh, having to defeat in combat two elders from the council, the village champion and three other veteran warriors as well as a contingent of ten other warriors to be chosen at random. Taking that into account along with the fact this was no pretty tournament where she'd face foes in one on one but a grand melee where she had to fight them all at the same time and it was no great surprise that after a couple of generations no one but Khu Lon had partaken of the challenge match.

Over the many centuries she'd lived she'd made discoveries that no other had deemed possible. Many of those had to do with the forces of magic and its manipulation. Until the culmination of her studies where she'd discovered a regenerative spell so powerful it could undo the ravages of time itself or bring back a lost appendage. The power of the technique was truly awe inspiring and the cost in energy was even more so as it was measured in all three forms of internal power and while running out of Chi or Shen could be problematic, running out of Ching during the spell would leave her a very young looking corpse. She'd not seen a need to take that risk in any of her previous incarnations or in the previous near four hundred years she'd been alive. Now however there was a reason, a powerful reason. Khu Lon cackled under her breath for fear of waking up the two youngsters upstairs. Casting her 'eye' on them she was surprised to find Mu Lon already 'up' and her grand-daughter very much awake and enjoying herself, the elder withdrew from their room to give them the privacy that all honeymooners require. She'd give them a few hours before she went up to roust them, but she'd save that for a last resort. Shaking her head she snorted in amusement.

"Feh, newlyweds," then she turned towards the stairs that led down to her private sanctum, there was much to do if she wanted to be prepared.

/ Kanakita \

The day started early for Ranma as usual, part of the legacy of being woken up so early every day of her life, with the method being so brutal in some cases it was no great surprise that she was a light sleeper. The light of the pre-dawn sun was more than enough to waken her these days especially as she didn't need as much rest as she used to. Ranma brought the small cup of tea to her lips as she regarded the clan's leader. The morning had barely started but the old man seemed like he'd been up for hours and accomplished a great deal.

"So Ranma how are you finding Kanakita?"

She placed her cup down on the low table and regarded the man as she tried to figure what he was really asking, "It's been good so far."

"That's good to hear. I have also heard you've made a few friends here as well."

"Um, I don't know about that, but I'd like to think so."

"Hmmm. You don't sound so sure, but then with the friends you had before I'm not too surprised. You should take some time and learn as much about them as you can." It sounded like good advice on the surface, it was funny but none of the girls she'd spent the day around yesterday had gone around announcing that they were her friend, they'd just done stuff together and had fun. That was a really weird experience for the pig-tailed martial artist for one reason, everyone who claimed to be a friend or in a relationship seemed to need to declare it to the world, and then dare the rest of the world to disagree. Ukyo was a prime example of this; she was his 'best friend' and his 'cute fiancée'. Nabiki had been a total bitch but she seemed to be getting better now, and as for Xian Pu as far as Ranma was concerned there was no relationship there at all but apparently she knew better. Khu Lon had gone from a pain in the ass to a trusted teacher and advisor; even Happosai had changed, though he was still a pain most of the time.

When she looked back at her life objectively, the number of people in Nerima who accepted her for who she really was could be counted on one hand. Kasumi had been the first followed by her own mother, then much to her surprise Happosai had come to an understanding with her, he wouldn't be a pervert anymore and she wouldn't put him in the ground permanently. Next had been Khu Lon, and that had been an even bigger surprise than Happosai as she'd had to try to figure out what the Amazon nation got out of the deal. When she'd finally figured out that Ranma herself was getting the better of the bargain they'd begun to relax into a student-teacher relationship and even enjoy each others company. Then finally there was Nabiki who seemed intent on repairing what they had loosely called a relationship, she'd have to see how far the middle Tendo could be trusted even though her ki senses were telling her that the woman was in full earnest about her change of heart.

Ranma looked at her tea, and then sipped the tea before replacing it on the table.

"A yen for your thoughts child."

"You need ta talk to Nabiki; she'd tell you thoughts are worth much more than that." She snickered for a moment before sobering again. "I was just thinking about my life in general and how now differs."

"Ah, deep and valuable thoughts indeed. Have you come to any conclusions?"

"Yeah, I think I prefer it here, but things were getting better in Nerima, I think."

"I'm glad to hear that, I had hopes that you'd like it here."

"I know, I've seen the adoption papers."

"Have you had any thoughts about that? As you know clan Itsunagi has hoped for you to join us for a long time now."

"Yeah, but I've only known about it for a week, I'm sorry, I just don't know…." She trailed off as she stared at her cooling cup of tea.

"Never apologise for honesty Ranma, it is such a rare thing that it should be cherished. Besides you are young and have time to make that decision and know that you have done the right thing for you. Don't look so surprised Ranma, it is not wise to force this kind of decision as you may come to resent the clan and that would not be good." The young seeming girl stared at the old man; from what he said she had a choice and he wasn't going to pressure her? These were still strange concepts to her as she'd been trying to take control of her own life and certain people hadn't grasped the concept that they didn't know better than her what she needed in her life. The expression on her face must have been telling because she had to pay attention as the old man spoke again.

"You see I don't wish to pressure anyone as I've recently been facing mounting pressure myself." At Ranma's quirked eyebrow he continued, "I'm nearly a hundred years old Ranma. You know what that means don't you?" Ranma had a quick mental image of the only really old people she knew and wondered what he was getting at; after all he practiced the art like they did ergo he should live as long as they would. It was simple mathematics as far as she was concerned. She shook her head.

"It means that I'm lucky to be alive, not many get to live this long and remain this healthy. The truth is I could die at any time, and that would cause problems for the clan as I haven't chosen my heir yet."

"You haven't?" Ranma opened her mouth to say more but figured she didn't really have anything to add to the question.

"No. You see I keep hoping that I won't have to compromise in my choice. I'm looking for the perfect person to take over the clan, one who'll care for it enough to make the correct decisions not just the easy ones, someone who'll place the clan before their own wants and needs. It's silly really I know, to hope for so much. Needless to say I haven't found the person the clan needs yet, even a distant cousin would be acceptable at this stage as long as they have the qualities I'm looking for. I want someone who's honourable and has the best interests of the people of the clan at heart. Each of the proposed candidates so far has been lacking in some way and thus I can't deem them as a candidate at all, or lacks the ability to learn what they need to administer something as large and political as clan Itsunagi. But I live in hope of finding that certain someone and teaching them before I die. I fear the clan may collapse in the struggle that ensues to find a new clan leader if I don't."

"So you don't even have one person in the whole clan who could do it?"

"Oh don't worry there is hope, it's just that the person isn't available for the responsibility at the moment, plus they have neither the education nor experience to gain an actual following amongst the elders of the clan."

"Don't sound like much of a candidate to me." Ranma frowned as she considered the person Nosaku described, they sounded like a right loser to her.

"As I said there's no need to worry about it just yet, the person is young and adaptable as the young so often are. I have great hope for the future with this person directing the clan."

"Ah well as long as you've got something going on the clan can't complain too much can it?"

"You're right, but they will it is in the nature of old people. Now enough of this gloom, tell me, what have you got planned for the day?"

"Well I'm gonna have to start training Ryoga, the sooner I get him started the better as far as I'm concerned. I was gonna start with him yesterday but I kind of got sidetracked."

"I noticed it was a little quieter during the afternoon. Did you have fun?"

"Yeah it was good, more fun than I've had with a bunch of people in a long time. I guess it makes a difference when the people you're spending time with aren't out to beat you into the ground," the old man smiled at her, "speaking of which, I suppose I'd better go thump Ryoga awake."

"That's a bit harsh isn't it?"

"Nah, we're both kind of used to it. Plus he's a pretty heavy sleeper."

"Yes well, the same subject but on a different note. The young man you brought home. Would you mind if I had him moved to a room here in the house? You see he's taking up one of the infirmary beds and they may be needed at any time." Nosaku raised his hands in a self deprecating manner.

"Er, yeah sure. I should be finished with him this afternoon so if we can get him moved first thing that would be good. He ain't gonna want to move afterwards I can tell you."

"In that case there are two rooms on your level, one is directly across the hall from you and the other is a couple of doors down on the right. Oh and if you could inform him that there are rules to him staying here, and the first rule is no girls are allowed in his room."

"Erg, um, you don't, I wouldn't…"

"Not you Ranma, I never thought for a second about that. No, this has to do with the number of young women who watched his practice yesterday. It's a funny thing, a man who shows skill, strength and stamina attracts the attention of the female population like bees to honey and yet if a woman were to show those same qualities the men find it intimidating. Ah well let's put it down to the vagaries of mankind. That being said Ryoga could find himself the centre of attention for the women on the island."

"Bwa-ha-ha-ha, oh Kami it'll be nosebleed city." Ranma wiped a laughter tear from the corner of her eye as mirth shook her body.

"What do you mean?" Nosaku was a little concerned now at the power of her reaction to his statement.

"It's Ryoga, yeah sure he's powerful and fast and tough as a tank, but I gotta say women are like his kryptonite. Not like I was that much better a couple of years ago, but then….yeah that works. I'll do the same thing to him as happened to me. Encourage a few of them to look past the bleeding nose, should have him over his shyness in no time. If it doesn't kill him first." Ranma's grin sent a shiver down the old mans spine as she thought about how to go about her plan.

"Do you think that's wise Ranma?"

"Oh yeah! I think he'd be happy with the results, after all he is a friend and friends should help each other right?" Ranma met the old mans eyes with a butter wouldn't melt in her mouth kind of expression before breaking down. She chuckled evilly for a moment as she set the fine porcelain down and addressed the elder. "I thank you for the most excellent tea honoured elder but I must be about my duties today."

"Fine, off with you then scamp." He watched as Ranma bowed slightly and rose to leave, as she passed through the doorway he muttered, "I have a really bad feeling about that.

/ \

Ranma left the kitchens five minutes later with the supplies she'd need for the day along with a bucket of ice. It was only a short walk to the infirmary where her unwilling student was probably fast asleep. Casting her ki sight forward she could tell that there were a few sleeping people in that particular direction but nothing specific jumped out at her. Then again it was always harder to tell who a sleeping person was unless they were dreaming strongly about something. With nothing better to do she pulled her senses back and relaxed. The day would start soon enough for him.

A minute later she pushed against the swing doors and looked at the unmanned nurse's station, casting an eye around the room she found the same nurse who'd accused her of brutality a few days ago, even though it was hard to believe it had been such a short time. The nurse was propped up in an uncomfortable looking chair; her head was thrown back as she was fast asleep. 'Oooh that's gonna give her one heck of a crick in the neck when she wakes.'

Next Ranma looked at Ryoga; he had an arm flung out to the side while the other one nestled behind his head, the sheet was bunched up around his waist leaving his heavily muscled chest bare. Even though Ranma wasn't interested in men she could admit that he was a fine physical specimen of a man. Fortunately he'd be an awake one very shortly.

"Ryoga!" Her intended target murmured in his sleep and attempted to turn over and regain his deeper level of sleep. "Oh Ryoga! Wake up Ryoga!" Ranma said in a sing-song tone.

"Jus five mins mum….." he mumbled sleepily. Ranma's eye twitched for a moment at being called mum, even if the guy in question was asleep. Alright she'd given him a fair chance to wake up in a normal manner now her secret weapon would come into play. In one smooth motion she stripped the sheet from his body and grabbed the waistband of his boxers before upending the bucket of half melted ice cubes over his washboard stomach and inside his underwear. 'That got his attention.

"Wakey wakey Ryoga! You awake now?"

"Heeeeeeee!!!!!!" Ryoga nearly swallowed his tongue in shock as the ice cold liquid washed over his privates causing parts of them to tighten painfully. Awake was one thing he definitely was if his bulging eyes were any indication. Ranma smiled as she placed the now empty bucket on his bedside table and stepped out of range as he bolted off the bed and frantically pulled the boxers down to remove the ice as quickly as possible. Of course the ruckus woke the nurse at the same time after all she was only snoozing, the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was a frantically dancing Ryoga as he unknowingly mooned her and when he turned to grab the red-headed target of his ire he also flashed her which caused the young woman to gasp drawing both of the others attention to the third witness. Ryoga turned at the exclamation and found a furiously blushing nurse fanning herself as she watched him with wide eyes.

Ryoga's eyes bore into Ranma's sparkling blue eyes as he fumed. "Ranma!!! This is all your fault!"

"Why yeeees I believe it is," she said, "But I'd get dressed before you try to do something about it. You wouldn't want to give the ladies any ideas now would you?" as she sauntered towards the door. Ryoga shuddered as he dragged the sodden underwear back on before grabbing a dry set of clothes and turning to the gape mouthed nurse.

"Um sorry miss," he said before bolting after the retreating form of his tormentor.

Once the two had left the room her mind seemed to reboot, "Oh my!" she said to herself as she pictured the young man as he was just moments before. It would take a few minutes to reel her mind back from fantasy land before she'd realize just how much her neck hurt from the awkward angle she'd been sleeping at. The wicked little grin wouldn't leave her face for the rest of the day though and had her colleagues asking for details which she refused to give. The word mine began to chant in the back of her head as she thought about what she'd seen.

/ \

Ranma fled just ahead of a charging juggernaut of destruction and mayhem, pity she couldn't take him seriously. Not when he was still wearing his wet boxers and carrying his dry clothes under his arm anyway.

"Ranma, stand still and take your punishment like a man!"

"Ain't gonna happen pork butt." Ranma turned around so she was running backwards, anyone who saw them wondered how the hell the diminutive red-head could run so fast when she couldn't see where she was going. Ranma on the other hand was fully aware of where every bump, twig and rock was in her path while she was giving Ryoga the pink-eye and sticking her tongue out at him.

"I'm gonna kill you!"

"Nah, but you're welcome to try." Ranma reached the tree line and flipped upwards to land on a branch eight feet up the first tree. "Come on Ryoga keep up, anybody would think you were still asleep you're moving so slow." It'd be a further ten minutes before Ranma reached her intended destination; the distinctive spire of rock where she'd first met Ryoga just a few days before. She skidded to a halt and waited for Ryoga to catch up which he did in short order crashing through the last few bushes and rushing towards her. He didn't look like he intended to stop either, not before Ranma was a thin smear of red over the short grass and sharp edged rocks. He reached forwards with his hands so that he cold rend her limb from limb.

Ranma waited without moving, when she did the action was too fast to follow, she grabbed his wrist and pulled it towards her with blinding speed even as her foot lashed out striking him in the right upper thigh pushing against the hard muscle. With the momentum killed in his lower body while amplified in his upper body he gave into the physics of the situation and became airborne. Not releasing her hold she twisted around until she slammed his body into the ground as hard as she could manage. When the overly muscled youth regained the breath that had exploded from his lungs he opened his eyes to find her finger pointing at the bridge of his nose with a tiny ball of ki dancing on the very tip of the nail.

"Bang! You're dead. This object lesson is over, and I've proved my point about you." Ranma straightened up and dusted imaginary dust off of her tunic. "So tell me Ryoga what you've just learned."

"That you're an asshole."

"You already knew that, try for something more intelligent this time. What was the point of what I just did?" She could see it in his eyes even before he opened his mouth. "And don't even think of saying something as stupid as I did it for fun. If I wanted fun I could have done a thousand other things that'd be more fun, like watching paint dry or having a root canal done. You getting me?"

"Uh yeah."

"Good. Now answer the question."

Ryoga fiddled with his bandana for a moment as he thought about the question. What did Ranma just prove to his satisfaction? The more he thought about it the more confused he became, neither of them had done anything out of the ordinary. Ranma insulted him, he chased Ranma and eventually the coward had stopped running and they fought, what was to understand?

"Can't think of anything huh?"

"Nope, I'm drawing a total blank; there wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Why don't you save us the melodrama and spit it out?" he took a menacing step towards the diminutive red-head.

"Settle down Ryoga, you don't want to do that. I'd have to punish you."

"Oooh I'm scared. What are you gonna do, spank me?" he sneered right back at her.

"No, ain't gonna spank ya, but you'll wish I did. You do realise that strictly speaking you don't require the use of you arms to learn what I'm 'going' to teach you?"

"You…" he went pale as the implications of what Ranma had said sank in along with the tone of voice she used.

"In a second I would. Do I have your attention yet?" Ryoga swallowed hard before nodding. "Good now lets take a little walk." Ranma walked out of the clearing heading back towards the Academy leaving Ryoga alone for a moment to wonder what was going on, Ranma usually wasn't like this.

Apparently he took too long to think about it as the ki ball that picked him off his feet had just enough power to do the job. "Pay attention Ryoga and keep up, there will be a test."

"Uh right." Ryoga stumbled after his rival in a fog of confusion. After a minute of following the trail of destruction they'd created Ranma stopped and pointed. "Do you remember this tree?"

"No! Why? Should I?

"And here I thought you'd make it hard for me. You should remember this tree seeing as you ripped it out of the ground and tossed it over here shouldn't you?"

"Er, no?"

"Wrong answer Ryoga, I ain't laughing."

"Look what's the big deal huh? It's just a tree for Kami's sake."

"Yeah this time it's a tree, but it could have been a kid or a pregnant lady or…there's so many things it could have been and you don't even remember hitting them."

"I didn't hit them!"

"But would you know if you did?"

"Of course I would! There's no way I could hit a person without knowing it." Ryoga glared at Ranma and if intensity mattered she'd be a smoking cinder if he had his way.

"That might even be true, but are you willing to take the chance if you're wrong?" Ranma stalked across the intervening space and poked him if the chest with a finger, "Because if you're wrong it ain't you that pays the price." She poked him again a little harder, "I know I ain't willing to take the chance that you might hurt someone who can't defend themselves against you. So we're going back to that clearing and you're gonna learn what I tell you to, you understand?" To add injury to insult she reached up towards an already wincing Ryoga and grabbed his ear.

"Ow, ow, stop pulling that. Ranma I'm warning you!" Ryoga stumbled and winced even harder as she refused to let go, she did stop though and look at him.

"You're warning me? Alright, seems you've got a short memory. You wanna have a go, then put up or shut up pig-boy!"

"Don't call me that!" He failed to appear intimidating as Ranma still hadn't released his ear.

"You know what? For a hard man you sure do a lot of whining." Ranma smirked as he watched Ryoga clamp his mouth shut after that particular jibe before they continued on towards the clearing.

"Sit down over here Ryoga; I want you to bring up your ki for me."

"Um okay, but…."

"Would you just do it? It ain't that hard to do, you do it all the time in Nerima."

"Alright but you asked for it..." with a little concentration he managed to begin drawing his ki together only to be stopped by a fist connecting with the bridge of his nose.

"Ow! Wud you do ndat for?"

"Which part of without the emotions driving your ki don't you understand?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. The guy only showed me how to do it this way"

"Riiight," Ranma closed her eyes as she thought about the precarious situation, she'd always assumed that he'd had some modicum of control over his ki abilities but if what he said was true then the only thing that ever controlled his ki was his emotions. Her small frame shook in reaction as she considered what that might have meant if he'd lost it in a crowded place, a likelihood that seemed much more possible with this information, her eyes flickered open and she met the green eyes of her reluctant student... "So you're telling me that all this time you ain't been in control of your ki?" Ryoga looked blank for a moment before hesitantly nodding. He didn't see any change in his rival's expression but he did see the mallet.

"Ryoga no baka!" Fortunately she pulled the blow or she'd have had to wait for another day to begin teaching him.

"Ow! Whadya do that for?"

"Cause you're an idiot!" Ranma sighed for a moment before continuing, "At least I know what most of the problem is now. Right let's take it from the top. This shouldn't take long as you've already got good ki reserves. Listen and do as I say, you can ask questions later and trust me I'll answer them as well as I can. We'll start with your breathing, take a deep breath and hold it for a second then breath out slowly. Good. Now keep doing that for a while." She watched for a little while to make sure he would follow her instruction before continuing.

"Right, I want you to close your eyes for this next part; it'll make it easier for you. I want you to imagine a point just behind your navel, a coupe of inches at most." This step she watched intently as she had for her previous class, she'd come to the conclusion that she'd try to teach it one on one after having twenty nine students to try and follow in one hit. "Right, you're doing well, now keep doing it like that and focus on that point, no; you're drifting the focus too far back. That's better, now keep doing that." Ranma leant back on her hands and turned her face to the sun as she listened and 'watched' Ryoga's progress, the point inside him that he was using for a focus began to glow intensely and she smirked as his eyes flew open in shock.

"What the fuck was that?"

"That's your ki, without the emotions driving you, now shut up and get back to doing it." Ryoga regarded her before doing as she asked; it wasn't like she was really asking him, more like he'd been dragooned into it. He began to smile as he considered the expanding sensation in his abdomen, it'd felt really weird but kind of normal as well like he'd been doing it for a long time. Maybe Ranma was right…

"FOCUS!!" she barked the command directly in his left ear and watched in satisfaction as he regained his composure and went back to the exercise. His sensei remained silent as he explored a whole new world inside his own body, that point of light and energy in his minds eye became the centre of his universe as he attempted to delve deeper into it, looking for pattern and mapping the energy flows. That was when he saw something that surprised him, all of the ki he'd seen had been pure white or at worst a mild yellow\gold colour that he felt no emotion from, and then he spotted a streamer of pale green energy streak through the pristine energy and his eyes flashed open to find Ranma smiling at him.

"So you saw it?"

"What was it; I mean it was different to the other ki I've got." He shuddered as he remembered the 'feel' of the energy as it slid past him.

"You wish. That stuff is what you used to use all the time."

"But I ain't using it here. Am I?"

"Nope, you're doing real well with that. The trouble is you've been using depression based ki for so long that it's left a taint on your ki reserves. It kind of keys your ki reserves to that form of energy and makes it easier to gather in the future. Trust me Ryoga it's a vicious downward spiral that didn't have a good end."

"So what do I do if I'm tainted?"

"Hold onto that thought for a while and I'll tell you. Now start doing that breathing exercise again, you can't let it lapse like that, it's got to become natural to you to the point you shouldn't even need to think about it. Good, you've got it down," she watched as his breathing changed to the required pattern in an instant. "Now you remember how to bring out your battle aura?" Then sighed as he shook his head.

"Okay, this is a little harder to do, but it's still pretty simple. You've got to continue focusing on you centre but you've got to focus on your skin at the same time, all of it not just a bit of it. Think of it as a whole and then bring the two together in you mind." Ryoga frowned as he concentrated, sweat sprang to his lower lip and beaded on his forehead. "Relax Ryoga, this isn't hard, it should be as easy as letting go." His expression cleared for a moment and his ki reserves expanded in the expected manner before collapsing back to his centre.

"Good try, you nearly had it. Try to remember what you were just feeling and relax into it." Ranma looked closer at his centre and smiled when she saw it turning green, as long as he managed to build his aura he'd be fine once he expelled that ki through his aura. His centre expanded and contracted a few more times before collapsing back once more to his core.

"This ain't working! Maybe I can't do this; I mean I've never been good at anything like you are." Ryoga's head sapped to the side as the sound of skin meeting skin rang out across the clearing.

"Shut up Ryoga, that's just the depression ki talking, focus on your centre and bring the two focuses together. Do it now, no excuses, no failure, just do it."

"Er right," he stopped thinking about failing and suddenly something clicked in his head, 'is that what I do to myself?' His body quivered in realization, he'd been his own worst enemy for so long, setting himself up for failure before he even began to do something. So engrossed was he in the thought that he didn't feel his ki explode from his skin, unfortunately he forgot to focus on his centre and his ki ran out quickly causing him to slump exhausted. Ranma wasn't surprised by the wave of green ki that washed from her reluctant student or the suddenness with which it appeared, nor was she surprised when he almost fell over in exhaustion. He might have hated his father at times but he was often right, even if it was stolen wisdom, everything was a lesson in the art, even falling over exhausted imparted a valuable lesson if you were willing to listen to your body. Maybe Ryoga would keep his focus like he should if he did that a few more times.

"Rebuild your ki reserve Ryoga; you ain't getting off with that pitiful effort. Come on you slacker, Kami what are you? A little child who needs his mommy to hold his hand?" Ryoga straightened instantly like someone shoved a boar of iron into his spine. "That's better, now what did you do wrong?"

"Why? Don't you know?"

"Of course I do. I was wondering if you had anything up there to think with, so why don't you answer my question hmmm?"

"I lost my focus?" he asked.

"You think? This is the core of martial arts, it isn't about hitting people, it isn't about learning techniques, it's control, focus and self knowledge. Without it you lose, not once but every time, even if you think you won the fight. Now continue, keep your eyes open this time, it won't help you if the only way you can do this is with your eyes closed." Ranma smirked at the expression on Ryoga's face. "While you do that I'm going to work on my aura, watch and see what's possible. Having finished with the lesson as far as she was concerned she stood up and walked away another twenty paces before facing her student and sitting down again. Bringing out her aura was the work of an instant, like she'd said it was as easy as breathing as it flashed into existence around her. Ryoga had seen it before, though this wasn't as scary as the one she'd pulled on him a few days ago, what was different he didn't know but he'd figure it out eventually and if he didn't he'd ask. Ranma had said he could but that was for later, for the moment he had something he needed to do.

Carefully he melded the two foci together, once more his battle aura flashed into existence, he was so focused on the light show that he almost missed Ranma's instruction that he needed to relax further as he was fighting himself. Looking into his reserves he could see what she meant as he saw his ki wracked by powerful turbulence as he tried to force it out. Gradually the flow smoothed just like a deep placid lake where the wind had died down, nary a ripple marred the surface now and when he again turned his sight outwards he could see that his aura had doubled in size, still it was nothing compared to Ranma across the clearing, then he gasped as the aura began to expand once more towards him, the sparse ground cover disappeared in an instant for five of six feet around her, then much like before the aura shrank but not as much as it had two days ago, it even felt more powerful to his limited senses. He wasn't even surprised when tentacles of ki lanced out around the clearing as the aura expanded back past the five foot mark that had been her previous best. He didn't flinch this time when a few of them touched his aura and then flickered away to investigate something else, as if dismissing his power as insignificant. Which was a pretty accurate description of how he felt at the moment.

Ranma cleared her mind of all extraneous thought as she moved onto the final Chakra she felt comfortable controlling, when the power lashed out she felt for the first time as the ground beneath her body disappeared and braced for an impact that never came. To her ki sight her navel, heart, neck and forehead glowed brightly with the ki that flowed from them, studying her body she felt for another Chakra that she could bring on line and dismissed two of them as they didn't feel right to her, the one at the crown of her head also felt wrong and she wasn't learned enough to know why. That only left the two previously dismissed Chakra, or did it? Searching through her body she uncovered something, a trace of energy that defied description other than that she could sense ki emanating from it. Another Chakra? 'Well there's only one way to find out,' she thought as she started to bring the place into focus and wasn't surprised when it began to cycle power at an even higher rate.

Outside Ryoga had a ringside seat as her ki spiked again with even more power than he'd never seen before, Saffron didn't even begin to compare. If Ranma had unleashed this on him back in the battle of Jhusendo then Ryoga doubted that the arrogant bird-man would have lasted more than an instant even taking into account his ability to regenerate damaged body parts. Ryoga found him self squinting as her aura pulled back until it formed a scintillating layer of ki that seemed to form a second skin around her. Where as before he'd been able to see her clearly through the aura she had disappeared into the brightness of the coronal effect. He'd have thought that she had lessened the amount of ki she was producing if the power wasn't beating against his own aura, the fact that she was nearly twenty metres away and it was still affecting him like this caused his breath to catch in his throat.

Ranma felt the Chakra point click within her as her ki poured forth, just before it became a maelstrom of energy that tore through her. She didn't even have time to scream as she was washed away in the flood of power, but the fear was there that she wouldn't survive if she couldn't gain control of this. It would snuff her out like a candle, her focus whittled down as she felt the ki begin to abrade the edges of her psyche which began to scream as her danger sense went off the scale. 'Damn, I've gotta be doing something wrong, but what?'

He watched as a slightly panicked expression washed across his sensei's face, he'd have to think about when he'd come to accept that Ranma was his sensei with such ease but that would be for later. First he had to think about what might lead to her being in a state of panic, then it struck him just as she had before. She was fighting the torrent instead of going with the flow.

Internally absorbed with her struggle Ranma didn't hear Ryoga's ki enhanced yell but in a way she felt the essence of his meaning wash through her and realized that he was right. She'd allowed the fear she felt at the power she held within overwhelm her control and allowed that fear to try and drive it back into the source. The second of enlightenment stretched into an eternity as she ceased to struggle against the flow, expecting to get washed away she was surprised when she remained stationary with the flow of power cascading around her, the force of the flow seemed to double with her acceptance and then double again. Her 'eyes' widened as she began to see more detail in the flow of power, there was the normal white of pure ki but there was something else as well. Something she had no name for, but the silver and golden strands of power while only a small proportion of the total seemed to overwhelm her ki into insignificance as they flowed out into her body. She didn't notice at first the subtle changes they caused but she felt when a long held pressure point gave way and returned a sealed portion of her ki system. The two lower Chakra that she'd dismissed as unimportant for so long didn't seem quite so insignificant now and she knew that they were what that pressure point had been hiding. Suddenly her mind was awash with scenes from her childhood, things that had left her confused and angry at the time were being reshaped as new insights were offered and she gasped as she grasped implications that she never would have without access to the Chakra that controlled the baser human instincts.

Outside Ryoga barely had time to blink as her aura literally exploded outwards, he wouldn't have had time to run as it smashed into his paltry aura and blew it apart. Fortunately it had enough power to throw him out of her sphere of influence where he landed in the branches of a tree some forty metres away from where he'd been kneeling in seiza meditating on his aura. Looking back towards Ranma he was truly shocked at her auras sixth transformation, where before it emanated from her body like a glove this was a total sphere, up to and including the fact that the small crater beneath her had widened and deepened to the point that she floated something like twenty five metres over the new ground level. The place he'd been sitting was nowhere to be seen as it had disappeared in the flash of power that had thrown him here. The aura itself was also spectacular in appearance, no longer was it a pure white but rather a completely clear substance that shimmered like the depths of a sunlit pool seen from below. Out on the surface of the sphere small waves of what appeared to be lightning cascaded over the surface. Even Ranma herself seemed to have changed physically; she seemed to be more proportioned to her attributes for one thing though it was difficult to truly tell at this distance with her still sitting in a meditative lotus position. He couldn't tell what other changes might have been wrought but the ones he could see were more than enough to have him seal away any and all animosity he'd felt at his rival. He snorted at the thought that he even still considered the red-head to be his rival.

Ryoga felt his eyes widen again as he looked beyond the woman whom he would call sensei for the rest of his life and saw that the far edge of the crater met the edge of the forest of ancient oak trees cutting through the trunk of the closest one to the point where it groaned in the breeze before giving in to the inevitable battle with gravity. He opened his mouth to yell out a warning but found he needn't have bothered as her eyes flashed open to reveal the twin glowing orbs within. Seemingly in a casual gesture she turned in time to catch the full weight of the tree with the very tips of her fingers. Looking at the damage she'd inadvertently wrought Ranma pushed the tree upright again and then poured forth her energy into the trunk. Both people who witnessed this feat were surprised when the trunk started to regenerate in an accelerating wave of new cellulose. In a few seconds a layer of bark formed over the trunk and she released her ki back into her body as exhaustion overcame her. Ryoga watched as she began to fall looking completely limp from where he'd managed to clamber up onto the wide branch of the tree he found himself in.

That day would find two incredible feats performed, one was attributable to Ranma while the other was solely due to Ryoga. In a never before seen feat of navigation he managed to cross the sixty or so metres of space that separated the two and picked her limp body out of the base of the crater she'd fallen into. Then further compounding his amazing show of navigation he'd managed to find the Academy. Ryoga beamed with pride at his accomplishment as he glanced down at the infirmary bed he'd placed Ranma on. Then thinking of returning to his bed to rest he turned around and came face to face with a strange rock wall.

"Where the hell am I now?!" echoed through the still mountain air of southern Tibet.

Authors notes:- So there's a lot of technical kind of information in this chapter but I assure you it's necessary as is everything I put in my fics, kind of moves the story along I think. Ranma is growing, not so much in power level but more in power types. In the next chapter someone arrives to SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!, though if you pay attention to this chapter you should already be able to make some educated guesses. What's Khu Lon up to and how will Ranma react when he finds out SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! There'll also be more SPOILER ALERT! than you can poke a stick at, or with for that matter. Though the author advises not provoking SPOILER ALERT! with sticks for any reason other than you're tired of living. Also someone is about to SPOILER ALERT! I'll let you guess that SPOILER ALERT!, and that SPOILER ALERT!isn't going to be happy about SPOILER ALERT! If for any reason you're seeing lots of SPOILER ALERT! warnings then do not change your monitor settings this means you are not a pre-reader and as such are not authorised to read this privy material. At this point the author falls off his chair laughing as he doesn't have a pre-reader.


	16. Chapter 16

Phoenix Ascension

Chapter 16

Disclaimer:- I assume that most people who read this chapter have read the umpteen other disclaimers that I've written so for me to repeat myself yet again would be ludicrous. If only the chapters had been released closer together I might have believed there was an echo.

Authors Notes:- Yes it's another chapter, I've tried to get to the fight I really have but at least now I can see it, no really I can. In fact there are sections of the next chapter strewn all over my room, an idea here a few hundred words there. All I got to do now is figure out how it goes together.

In this chapter Ranma's in trouble again, I'll let you discover how many ways I can wreck a perfectly good week for our erstwhile hero. Counting in troll that would be many, many, lots. (and for all you out there who didn't get that I suggest an intensive course of Pratchett therapy, after all laughter is the best medicine. That was from the second book in the Guards trilogy.)

_**/ On with the chapter \**_

/ Tendo dojo – early morning \

"I see, thanks for the information, and remember to pull everyone back as quickly as possible. I'll talk to you later when I find out more." A slight jumble of sound from the far end was cut off as Nabiki pulled it away from her ear and replaced the receiver with a pensive sigh. It seemed their big plan had failed, the old woman and her protégé had returned from wherever they'd gone in search of Ranma. That was something that wouldn't have happened if the matriarch didn't know something. There lay the second problem, she had no idea what the elder knew, or how she'd found out, and now that she knew the Amazons had returned she'd had her watchers pull back so they weren't spotted by Khu Lon. There was nothing like letting the opposition know you knew something that they wanted, especially as there was only Happosai who stood a chance of defending them from the elder.

As she walked through the house towards the kitchen she passed the meditating forms of her father and younger sister. They were probably steeling themselves for the upcoming training session with Happosai she thought wryly. She could see their tormentor sitting on one of the stones by the koi pond waiting for the sun to finally rise above the rooftops of Nerima. With things the way they were the mornings training might need to be put on hold as they'd have to plan for whatever might be coming from the Amazon camp. She resolved to talk to Nodoka and Kasumi before she did that though, her father and sister really needed that training, not for the physical benefits but for the bolstering effect it would have on their confidence.

To talk to either of them alone meant she'd need to catch them in the kitchen before breakfast was served and the rest of the family descended to break the morning fast. Since Kasumi had become engaged to Dr. Tofu there were no guarantee's that she'd be home this early but at least Nodoka should be there. The shoji slid open on nearly soundless tracks and she sauntered into the kitchen that she'd grown up in. A sense of comfort washed over her as long latent memories came to the front of her mind reminding her of times her mother and later Kasumi had soothed her childhood hurts. Nodoka Itsunagi bustled around the bench at the far side of the room busy with breakfast seemingly oblivious to her surroundings but Nabiki knew better even before the older woman spoke.

"Good morning Nabiki-chan, you're up bright and early this morning."

"I don't know about bright Aunty but it's certainly early." Nodoka chuckled a little at the young girls jibe.

"Oh I think you've got bright covered as well young lady. Now what brings you into the kitchen this early?"

"I received a disturbing phone call a couple of minutes ago."

"Ah I wondered who that was for. Maybe it won't be as disturbing if you share it with someone?"

"I don't know Aunty I find it pretty disturbing that the Amazons have returned from wherever they went off to."

"They have? Oh my!" They shared a conspirational grin at the intentional impression of a certain Tendo daughter before sobering again. "So do you think they know anything?"

"Probably, I mean Khu Lon went off to drag her grand-daughter back so she must know something. That's the problem though, against anyone else my information network could provide some kind of information about the person, but Amazon Elders are a little out of their league." Nodoka paused for a moment her hands stilled from their busy routine as she pondered her personal take on the situation, on the one hand it was obvious to her that Nabiki needed something that could put her personally in danger, on the other hand she'd been meaning to talk to the Amazonian elder for a while, something that had been put off after Ranma went to Kanakita followed very shortly after by the elder vanishing herself. She clicked her tongue as she came to a decision.

"I believe I might be able to help there, I've been meaning to have a word with Khu Lon for some time now. Not that she ever stood a chance of taking my son but with the backing of clan Itsunagi she has even less of a chance now." The knife in her hand seemed to blur as she diced the tofu for the miso soup, each swipe making a light tap as it touched the board and receded before returning for another cut.

"I don't know…" Nabiki paused significantly hoping that the older woman would affirm her previous statement that she would go, the only other option would be to talk to Happosai and if that happened the results were likely to be unpredictable at best and absolutely chaotic at worst.

"Well I do, Clan Itsunagi will not sit idly by and let that woman harm one of our family and taking him to China against his will would be considered as harm don't you think. If she thinks we'll be easy marks then she has another think coming." The grim smile did nothing to alleviate the frost that had entered her sapphire blue eyes, eyes that bored into the middle Tendo daughter letting her know that Nodoka wasn't fooled by her supposedly subtle manipulation at all. That was alright with Nabiki though as it meant that she was likely to get some if not all of the information she needed. Without it any plans she made would be less than useless.

"I will depart for the Nekohanten one hour after we finish breakfast." With that she made a clearly dismissive gesture with her shoulder while turning around to attend to several pots on the stove. Nabiki knew she'd get nothing further from Ranma's mother and turned to leave nearly colliding in the doorway with her older sister as she rushed in from who knew where. Nabiki smirked as she took note of her sisters dishevelled state, as if she didn't know that Kasumi had spent the night with her fiancé.

"Good morning Nabiki-chan, good morning Aunty, sorry I'm late. What can I do to help," she said as she turned to Nodoka.

"Nah, nah, think nothing of it Kasumi-chan, after all it's important that you spend time with Tofu sensei." She smiled fondly at the young woman as Kasumi blushed profusely. Nabiki moved aside to get a better view as her sister was teased by their Aunty. Even though she'd been coming over here for months it still seemed strange and comforting to have an older woman in the house at times. Nabiki moved towards the stove and removed the kettle to make some tea.

"Would anyone else like some tea?" she said as she waved the kettle slightly.

"Why thank you Nabiki-chan, that's very thoughtful. I'd love a cup." Nabiki joined her sister in blushing though not as brightly, she ended up thinking again how different the house seemed with Nodoka in it.

"Me too Nabiki, now what do you want me to do Aunty?"

"Hmm, well the tofu is done, the rice doesn't need to go on for another twenty minutes or so and the broth is simmering nicely," she took a spoonful of the dark brown liquid and tasted it, "perfect. I suppose that means all that's left to do is for you to take a seat and tell us about your evening."

"Aunty!" Kasumi protested in embarrassment, she looked at Nabiki hoping for an assist but on seeing her sister she knew that all hope was lost.

"Oh no, I want to know as well. Did you do anything special last night?" If red were a seismic event then Kasumi's blush would have registered on the Richter scale the length and breadth of Japan.

"I'm not telling!"

"So what can you tell us?" Nodoka settled into a chair opposite Kasumi and rested her hands on either side of her cup.

Kasumi's blush receded as she thought about it, "I love him." Such a simple statement but said with so much conviction. It hit Nabiki somewhere, a palpable hit as she momentarily considered her life and the lack of anything significant on the horizon in that department.

"Well duh! Now tell us something we don't know," Nabiki said even as her sister capitulated and described her evening with Ono Tofu, or at least some of it.

/ Ten minutes later \

Nabiki folded her arms across her chest as the new and improved Happosai entered the kitchen, after all he hadn't been back long enough for ingrained behaviour to change and she wasn't sure how improved he actually was anyway. Happosai noticed her motions and merely raised an eyebrow taking no offence at her action before asking what he'd come into the kitchen for in the first place.

"Good morning ladies. I was hoping you could tell me how soon it would be till breakfast?"

"Certainly grand-father," Kasumi rose gracefully thankful that the merciless grilling the other two women had been putting her through was put on hold for the moment. She walked over to the stove and tasted the broth, "it should be ready in about an hour, the bonito flakes need to simmer for a little bit longer."

"Ah good that means we can get a good spar in before we break our fast," it was probably lucky that neither of his intended victims could see the expression on his face, he then he turned on his heel to leave the kitchen.

"Oh, Happosai, before you leave, I need to talk to you after breakfast." Nodoka spoke up and watched as the elderly man turned back.

"That's fine No-chan, I'll talk to you then," before glancing at Nabiki, "Sweeto!" Nabiki shuddered at the dreaded cry then blinked as the expected assault never materialized; Happosai could be heard chuckling to himself as he retreated down the corridor towards the family room.

"One of these day's I'll…" she trailed off as she realized she really had no leverage with the old man.

"What will you do Nabiki? It's not like he actually did anything. At some point you'll have to learn to trust that he's changed." Kasumi smiled at her sister reassuringly.

"Yeah right! I'll believe it when I see it."

"You don't trust my son's word?"

"Oh I trust Ranma just fine. Happosai is a whole different kettle of pervert. Now if you don't mind I'm going to do some work on something constructive." Nabiki walked out of the room at a fair clip and made a point of thudding up the stairs on the way to her room.

Back in the kitchen Nodoka exchanged glances with Kasumi as if to ask, "What the?' before shrugging and turning back to the breakfast preparations.

/ Nekohanten – Khu Lon's workroom \

Khu Lon sighed in relief as she closed the door to her warded workroom; the spell required for such a warding was pretty simple as it only blocked her senses from being able to sense anything beyond the walls of the room. In this place she could concentrate on whatever problem she needed to without fear she'd be interrupted. Not that she minded her Chi senses, she'd spent most of her lives honing them so that she could sense nearly anything she needed to.

She crossed the circular room towards a long workbench on the far wall, deftly stepping around the glyphs of the circle of containment she'd drawn on the floor just after she'd arrived to open the restaurant. The elder had never used it though, in all the time she'd been here she hadn't seen the need, none of the people who came against her had any knowledge of magic or were plain just not a worthy threat to her or the tribe.

The only person that came to Nerima after her who'd had knowledge of magic was the Musk Prince and sometimes Princess Herb. She let out an evil little chuckle at the young mans distress at his situation as he wasn't dealing with it anywhere near as easily as Ranma. Though since it had happened she had to admit there'd been several improvements in the relations between the two tribes. Simply put, when he was a male and his tribesmen had been abducting Amazon women to claim as wives or slaves, though some would argue there wasn't that much difference, he'd been indifferent to the Amazon plight. Now that he spent a significant amount of time as a woman with his men breathing down her neck he had a better understanding of the situation and was reigning his men back.

As a result trade had reopened amongst the tribes and they were even beginning to prosper, it wouldn't be enough in this new world where countries could crush each other with nuclear bombs and missiles but it was a start. It was a dream come true for Khu Lon as she'd been trying to mend fences with the Musk since she'd become aware that the Phoenix people were threatening to take over the valley with Saffron's next ascension.

Now that things were stable again she found herself standing here looking at the circle with a sense of longing, there was a reason to use it now. There was someone worth using it for. In her other lives she'd hoped to find that certain someone to make her long lives meaningful but it never seemed to happen that way. All her marriages so far had been politically expedient for either her family or the tribe or both.

This incarnation was different from the other times, this time she decided that she needed to live for herself and the tribe rather than languish in hope that she'd find someone to love. So she'd maintained her youth through prodigious use of chi and Shen, appearing to the tribe as a teenager for nearly two hundred and fifty years. As time passed she'd come to the conclusion that it had been a false alarm and that this incarnation had been a bonus, like a reprieve from her penance, or time off for good behaviour. Since she believed her people were safe, she'd let herself age slowly over the next hundred and forty years, taken a place on the council of elders and helped guide the tribe through its many wars and the changes the British Empire and Japanese army had wrought on the Chinese landscape. It was twenty three years ago that the Phoenix Lord Saffron last passed away and was reborn from his ashes, too late for her to do anything about, she was considerably weaker than when she had her youthful body unless she rejuvenated herself and the time nor the place was right. Upon following the brash young man who'd defeated her Grand-daughter to Japan she'd found the place, the only thing she needed to decide was the time.

A year later Saffron had proven to be the threatened trouble for her people and she'd passed the time when she could actively fight him, if she tried she knew deep in her soul she would have surely died. She would have been hard pressed to defeat him with the vitality of youth let alone in this withered husk of a body. But death was not to be her fate it seemed as the young man she'd been harassing for the past year stepped forward, uncouth and cocky he might have been but she'd watched him grow into a man and then a warrior as he protected everything he held dear. Ranma Saotome proved to be so much more than the loudmouthed braggart she'd first met. Then there was the fact that he was the husband of her Great-grandchild, she would have cried at the injustice of it all, the first man she would have undergone this potentially dangerous spell for and he was already taken at such a young age.

Now he was free, or at least she thought he was. There was no telling what he was getting up to so far away from Nerima but she could make her move here and hope that he proved more receptive to her, after all she was still young at heart and had a healthy sense of humour, things that any spouse of Ranma would need. As for the fact she was an old crone, or the 'Old Ghoul' as he liked to call her, well that could change, in fact it was about to. Changing the reality she admitted to herself probably wouldn't stop Ranma from calling her 'Old Ghoul' but she could think of several things he'd hate to be called in return so things would probably even out in the end.

Picking up the canister of chalk dust she strode to the centre of the circle, the only safe place to be in this room when the spell activated. Anyone outside of the circles centre would be sucked dry of all their energy to fuel the spell. That would be truly bad as it would throw off the spells intended result, with the life force of someone like Xian Lon she would regress to a mere baby, not a fate she'd appreciate having to live through again, that would make it six times she'd remember being in that state.

Turning to the East the elder raised the can of chalk and started to chant, her words were unintelligible to anyone else who lived on earth as they came from a long extinct language; in fact she was the last person who knew the language had ever even existed. All her secret documents and scrolls were written in it for that very reason.

The cantrip she was reciting was repeated three times and then she shook the can towards the rising sun, the cloud of dust exploded into the air and began to glow eerily. The form of the glyphs for the last ring of power in the circle held crystal clear in her head as she imposed them over the current reality, the chalk in the air floated down faster and faster until the glowing chalk formed a duplicate of the template she held in her mind.

Drawn the traditional way this would have taken her several days as each symbol had to be drawn with a nigh inhuman accuracy, examining her handiwork she found no discrepancies and turned to face the setting sun and repeated the process.

Turning to the North she bowed to the General of the Northern hemisphere of Heaven, patron God of martial artists, also know as Pak Tai and many other names that were all as real as the next to those in the know. She sought a blessing on her endeavour since she was under his sphere of influence. Then with the formation of the glyphs she turned to face the God of her people, Asgaroth, Blue Dragon of the South. This was the most important blessing she sought because He had a personal stake in her life in so many different ways. From the times before when the tribe had been forgiven their crimes against Him, and she'd been punished for her presumption to punish the council of elders that had sacrificed children of the tribe in a vain hope of defeating Him where the Amazon nation at the height of its power had failed.

To the end of that first life she'd spoken with Him often hearing His replies to her requests in her head. At the beginning of her third reincarnation she'd only heard silence; she learned later through the tribe's spiritual advisor that the Gods had formed an uneasy truce with the demons that plagued mankind. It would be nearly two thousand years later that she'd speak with her God again while sitting on a plane, but she didn't forget. She couldn't forget Him, indelibly engraved as He was on her minds eye. Before she even shook the can the chalk exploded into the air and had formed the glyphs as a feeling of well being overcame her.

As the last glyph faded back to normal appearing chalk she sighed with a sense of relief. That had gone better than she'd hoped, much better. The only way it could have gone better was if Pak Tai had honoured her with His blessing, little did she know His blessing was already in place. The Gods would be laughing about that blessing for a long time indeed, for there, at a place where a node of magical energy would form was what appeared to be an innocuous spot of chalk dust, if she had looked closer with a microscope she might have noticed several thousand glyphs in an older and much more potent language than her own. That is if He hadn't protected the mark from being discovered by her.

Having finished the main body of her preparatory work she stepped forth from the circle and left the room. The circle would be there when she returned and after an hour of intense spell casting she needed to refresh herself with food and drink.

/ Tendo dojo ten minutes later \

The family sat at the table waiting for Kasumi to bring their repast. Happosai sat at the head of the table, even though he was not a Tendo, he was the eldest and most powerful person in the room and as such worthy of respect. Soun sat to his left with Nodoka across from him, his eyes sparkled even though the old man had pasted both of the families practitioners of the art that morning. He felt he'd done passably well against the former Grand-master of the 'Anything Goes' style, he hadn't looked like he'd win or even come close, but he felt good for some of the moves he'd pulled from his youth.

Kasumi resumed her seat while placing the final tray of food in the middle of the table and turned to greet her youngest sister sitting at the end of the table. Nabiki was conspicuously absent from the table but that wasn't unusual as she normally had to be dragged from her computer if not quite kicking and screaming then very reluctantly.

"Good morning Akane," Kasumi smiled at Akane even though the youngest child looked like she'd been dragged through a bush backwards. Her hair stuck up in all directions and her eyes appeared glazed, the bruise forming over her right cheek didn't accentuate her good looks either. Looking closer she could see that her pupils were dilated and turned to her father with a slight frown. "Father, what happened to Akane?"

The light that shone in his eyes at his renewed vigour paled slightly as he spoke to his daughter, "We have started her on some of the more advanced techniques from the family scrolls. She already had a good grounding in our style but she needs some toughening up."

"Well I think you've gone too far this morning, look at her. She barely knows where she is." Soun looked closer at his youngest child and saw the same thing as Kasumi had.

"Hmm, maybe you're right; we shouldn't expect so much from her this soon. I'll lessen the pressure of training somewhat tomorrow."

Akane blinked as she realized her father was speaking about her, just in time to hear the last of his words. "Don't you dare father! I'm not worried about how hard it is I need this training if anyone is going to take me seriously in Nerima."

"That is true daughter, and if you'd let me finish as a good student would I would have told you my reasons why this needs to be done. It isn't your fault Akane, it was mine, I was being far too pushy," he paused.

"But.." Akane interjected hoping to dissuade her father.

"Akane, of what use are the skills if you damage your body while learning them? What good is a martial artist who can not fight? That is where you are heading if we continue like we did this morning." He listened as she mumbled something under her breath, even straining he couldn't quite catch it but he knew what she was saying even without the words. "I know, you want to do these things, and given time you will, you'll see. A little patience now will make the rewards all the sweeter."

"But Ranma…"

"Yes Ranma, and he'd be the first to tell you how heavy the price he paid is. You don't rush the creation of a fine blade neither should you rush the creation of a fine martial artist. You will be that martial artist one day, just give it time."

"I rushed my training you know," Happosai pulled the pipe from the corner of his mouth before continuing, "I thought I knew what I was doing and took a short cut in my training. Instead of taking the time to master internal alchemy, the transition of Ki and Shen into what the Chinese call Ching, I took to stealing it from other people namely women, at some point my own Ching was damaged by the stolen ching and I needed even more just to survive. It became a vicious circle where the only alternative seemed to be death. Take my word for it you don't want to become like me Akane." He took a toke from his pipe and blew smoke through his nose as he contemplated his life. Several people at the table shuddered at the thought of an Happosai clone running around, not the least of them was Akane.

"No offence Grand-father but I don't want to be that short." Nodoka and Soun snorted in amusement at Akane's sally.

"None taken girl, you don't think I wanted to be this short do you?" He smiled before turning to Nodoka, "So my dear, what was it you wanted to speak to me about?"

"I need an escort later,"

"Ah, and who are you going to see?"

"Elder Khu Lon," she stated simply.

Soun placed his cup down before asking, "Do you think that's wise?"

"Possibly not wise, but we need information as to why she has returned with Xian Pu. What does she know? Then there's the matter of how close these Amazons skate to blood feud with Clan Itsunagi." Soun paled at the words, his family had a history of blood feud with its neighbour's before the Meiiji era and it wasn't pretty, often there were no winners in such battles.

"Now, now Nodoka surely things haven't gone that far."

"Maybe not, but they don't know that and it may cause them to back off where the threat of the Saotome clan would not." She was alluding to the fact that the fortunes of the Saotome clan as a whole had fared poorly in the last century, and none were likely to support the child of a black sheep such as Genma.

"True, so when do you want to leave?" Happosai glanced at the auburn haired woman to assess her mood but found it impossible unless he used his ki senses. She didn't seem to be perturbed by the thought of entering the lions den and a steely resolve lurked just below the surface.

"I leave in an hour Happosai. Can you be ready?"

"Of course my dear, should I be conspicuous or would you like a more circumspect escort?"

"I'd like you standing by my side, if you're not there then you will probably be to late to help if things go badly."

/ Nabiki's room \

The missing Tendo punched a final key before leaning back in her chair to survey her handiwork. The proposed modelling agency she was forming looked good, she even had several girls picked out from her university to act as her first models, though she had yet to approach them, and some of the girls she knew from school would be perfect if she could convince them that she had no intention of exploiting them ruthlessly. That could be a problem but she hoped to have solved that by making sure the contract was written in plain Japanese and not legalese.

Stated simply it said that Nabiki would undertake to find work for any model on her books to the best of her ability, which those who knew her would know meant they had a pretty good chance of being in work much of the time. In return she would take a ten percent commission and only ten percent, with no other fees or surcharges except for the models portfolio which as per standard operating procedure would be done in house. The fee for which would not be the usual exorbitant amount that normal agencies charged but a modest sum reflecting the actual cost of materials and time of the photographer, which would be Nabiki in the early days of the agency. The rest of the document went on to state that she would never ask a model to undertake an assignment they were not comfortable with and that said model could refuse any job with impunity, this went against common wisdom for many of the other agencies who didn't care if they burnt out their workers.

Having finished with her perusal of the document she smiled, she'd closed any loopholes she could find and the fact that the contract would be advantageous to the girls who worked for her meant that she stood a good chance of keeping them on her books instead of losing them to a larger agency as was most often the case. Of course everything hinged on Ranma coming on board as he would be the main pulling power for the agency in its early days. Having someone like that on her books would give her some credibility, a currency that went a long way in any business circle.

She smiled to herself, now all she had to do was broach the subject with Ranma and several of the girls and she'd be set, fingers crossed. Sitting forward she saved her work and headed down to breakfast. She'd call him tonight and see what he thought of the situation then.

/ Nekohanten \

When Khu Lon stepped from her work room she found that the children had risen from bed, Xian Lon was in the kitchen watching as her husband cooked breakfast. The quiet hiss as she drew a wet stone along the edge of a scimitar meshed oddly with the sounds of cooking utensils, it was a sound from the village and comforting in this foreign country. The glow around Xian Lon caused Khu Lon to remember that she'd been meaning to give the young warrior a certain pendant since they got off the plane just after midnight. She'd look to that later, the couple were safe and so was the latest addition to the Lon family, as long as they were with her none could even get close to harm them.

The elder dispensed with any pleasantries as she walked towards the table merely nodding as the two youths bid her a good morning in favour of heading for her seat and a nice cup of her favourite tea. As the herbs infused their flavours into the near boiling water a delicate aroma rose from the pot making the Matriarch smile as she remembered creating this particular blend sometime in her youth, maybe it was a past life but the memory remained clear and strong for her. When she returned to her seat three steaming bowls sat before their respective places, and she smiled appreciatively at the cook.

"So what are your plans for the day children?" Looking around the table she found Mu Lon watching her as he asked himself the same question, after all his life had taken a turn for the better and he still wasn't used to the thought that the woman he'd desired for most of his life was married to him. He rolled the word 'wife' around in his mind testing the concept and found it to his liking. Xian Lon on the other hand looked up from her bowl with her chopsticks still between her pursed lips as she desperately tried to swallow the rice and answer the elder.

"I'm going to be doing some training today elder," Mu Lon said, "Ranma thought up an idea to catch incoming weapons in sub-space pockets. We haven't had a chance to work on it yet but I figure I don't need him to work out the details once I've got an idea of what to do."

"I could throw things at you if you want," Xian had finally cleared her mouth.

"If you're offering?"

"Xian Pu always liked throw things at stupid Mu Tse." She smiled coquettishly at her new husband.

"Xian Lon."

"Pardon elder?"

"You're married now, so it's Xian Lon and Mu Lon, and I thought I told you to use Chinese when you speak." Khu Lon cast a reproving look at her grand-child.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot." Xian Lon blushed slightly as she asked herself how she could forget her marriage so soon. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she felt so comfortable in the relationship, like a pair of old slippers she'd worn for years, nothing seemed to have changed. Her smile turned blinding as she considered the tall frame of her husband and then unable to contain herself she dove across the table and glomped him. His chair slammed backwards with the added weight and toppled leaving the Master of Hidden Weapons lying flat on his back with an amorous Amazon attempting to hug the stuffing out of him.

After a moment or two Mu Lon looked pleadingly at the Matriarch and managed to mouth, 'Need air' which raised a chuckle from her wrinkled lips.

"Xian Lon let him up." Only to find that her Grand-daughter was lost in her own little world. Well the Matriarch knew how to fix that. Picking up her tea cup she imbued it with cold chi and watched as the steam stopped rising from the hot liquid and without any preamble she upended the contents over the pair and activated their curses earning her a hiss from the now soggy purple hued cat. Turning back to her mate she gave him another of those speculative looks before pinning his bill to the floor with a fast swipe of her paw. Xian Lon smirked(which is quite effective coming from a cat) and lathed her tongue the length of his beak and through the feathers between his eyes, a motion that she repeated for good measure before sauntering away leaving a stunned duck.

Mu Lon watched her tail swish as she headed for the door, looked over her shoulder she winked at him before vanishing in the direction of the bathroom. Thoroughly confused he looked at the elder.

"Quack?"

"Don't look at me, I'm not the one she invited to scrub her back."

"Quaaack!"

"So exactly what are you waiting for?"

"Quack! Qua-Qu-aack! Quaack!" Mu Lon bolted as if it were hunting season flapping his wings to gain extra speed. Then as he reached the door he gave a very convincing demonstration of why ducks shouldn't run on tile floors.

"QUAACK!" As he attempted to turn right at speed and kept heading in the direction he'd first been running in a mass of wing waving and slipping flippers. He solved the problem by flapping his wings harder and lifting off the floor doing a wingover and coming back in the direction he wanted to go. All in all it was better than the last time he'd done that, he'd dropped an anchor on the floor with a chain attached and literally orbited the heavy metal like a feathered planet getting closer and closer to it before he let go and collapsed flat on his back from dizziness.

Khu Lon looked fondly after the two and wondered about what her life would have been like if she'd ever met anyone who made her feel the way Xian did for her spouse.

/ The mean streets of Nerima \

Akito Ori had seen many things in his life but he'd never been anywhere like Nerima. Fresh from the Police Academy he'd drawn his first posting and groaned with the two others who'd come to this forsaken place with him. As was common practice he'd been partnered with a veteran of the precinct. When she'd been introduced he'd been profoundly amused as she named herself. Ima Aho stood five feet four and probably weighed fifty kilograms in a wet uniform. Ori winced at that thought, he'd already had a strip torn from him for outright laughing in her face, he didn't need to add sexual harassment to the list, not on his first day anyway. In either of the languages he spoke there was something amusing in her name, in Japanese Aho meant literally 'idiot' or 'fool', on the other hand in English it sounded like she was calling herself an asshole.

Of course it wasn't wise to laugh at a veteran of the precinct. He wondered what they were considering to be a veteran these days as she didn't look much older than he was, at maybe twenty five years old. When he'd asked her she'd looked at her watch and thought for a moment.

"Thirty eight days, seven hours and twenty four minutes. Not that I'm counting or anything."

"Wow that long!" Sarcasm dripped from each syllable but for some reason seemed to slide off the young woman before him.

"Hmmm, I was born here so my tolerance for the police work here is higher or at least that's the theory. The departments average is two days before they put in for a transfer and five before they go on stress leave" Totally ignoring or not recognizing the sarcasm in his voice she'd gone on to tell him about her parents the politicians, the local crime scene which was practically non-existent, and a quick rundown on her personal survival guide for Nerima.

/ Flashback \

"So that's about it. I think I should have that printed up as a flyer, might save me a sore throat having to repeat it all the time," she frowned as she considered the potential cost of that project.

"So your parents are politicians?"

"Yep sure are."

"That's gotta be handy when it comes time for promotion."

"Not really, they were recalled from their first diplomatic mission overseas within two days of arriving."

"Did they do something wrong?"

"That's the weird thing, we've never seen a report on their visit to America."

"America?"

"Yes and all my father did was greet the President."

"Wait a second, your telling me your father met the President of the United States?"

"That's right, why? Why are you laughing again?" Ima crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her rookie partner who was nearly collapsed on the ground with tears running from the corner of his eyes.

"I-I-I'm s-sorry! Please do go on." Her features set in stone she regarded him before continuing.

/ Flashback within a flashback \

"Fuku Aho." President Bush tried to maintain his affable politicians façade in the face of this verbal attack but in the end had to ask.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Fuku Aho, I'm very pleased to be meeting you Mr Bush." He extended his hand to a nonplussed Mr Bush who looked at it before looking around and finding his aide gesturing him to come over frantically.

"I'm sorry, could you excuse me for a moment. It seems something very important has come up that requires my immediate attention." Fuku Aho smiled politely before responding.

"That is not a problem Mr Bush. I shall wait here with my wife." Mr Bush looked aside at the striking woman who stood to the right of the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs.

"Yura Aho," the woman smiled what seemed to be a genuine smile as she regarded the shocked looking President. A President who couldn't believe he'd been insulted twice in nearly as many minutes.

"Um, er, excuse me a moment, I'll just be a second," he left the couple standing inside the Oval office and followed his aide into the hallway. "This had better be damn important!"

"Yes sir, you better believe it sir. I've just been briefed on the Japanese Minister."

"I take it he and his wife have strong anti-American sentiments."

"No sir not that I've been informed, in fact it's quite the opposite sir."

"Then why did they both just call me an asshole?"

"They didn't sir, it's all in the briefing, Fuku Aho and Yura Aho, that's their actual names sir." Needless to say phone calls were made and the Aho's of Nerima after a brief tour of Washington D.C. were shipped back to Japan on a chartered flight not quite knowing what had happened.

/ End Flashback within Flashback \

Ten minutes later Ima Aho had shown him another side on Nerima that he wished he'd never seen. Reaching down to help the hysterical man to his feet she'd put an end to his laughter with a well placed foot to the groin followed by using his trapped hand to flip him into a wall. Proving once again why it wasn't wise to piss off even a minor martial artist in Nerima, minor was such a relative word when discussing the norm for the art here. It was total overkill as far as he was concerned, being introduced to her foot had been enough to regain his attention. He hitched his trousers slightly to relieve the pressure of the material against his swollen testicles.

His mentor brought him out of his reverie with a whap of her baton against his chest, he gasped as the air exploded from his lungs. It was effective though as he spotted a diminutive man walking along side a regal woman wearing a kimono that must have cost a fortune, rendered in jewel tones of green it looked as if sunlight were pouring through the leafy canopy of a tree, the spray of embroidered wisteria flowers that cascaded in a frothy white wave over her right shoulder only added to the effect. In her auburn hair an ivory comb covered with more of the white blooms. That wasn't what snagged his attention though for there at the woman's side was a katana.

Ima watched in stunned disbelief as Probationary Officer Ori ignored rule three totally. The rule stated simply that you should leave the martial artists of Nerima alone unless you had a very good chiropractor. Sighing impatiently she went to retrieve the remains of her temporary partner.

"Excuse me miss." Akito took careful note of the woman who was surprisingly good looking close up, but he paid particular attention to the blade by her side. The scabbard itself was nothing to look at but the hilt and tang told a story to an experienced swordsman, or an otaku on ancient Japanese katana. He took note of little things such as the sword wasn't even secured with the usual ties and the scabbard was set for Iaijutsu, the art of speed drawing. This was looking worse and worse for the woman involved, he was going to make his first arrest and it'd only been two hours since he started here.

"What can I do for you officer?" Nodoka regarded the uniformed man before her, also taking note of the woman coming up behind him at speed.

"I'm sorry miss but that sword you're wearing contravenes several laws. I'm afraid I'm going to…."

"Shut up!" Ima Aho slid to a stop next to her partner and glared at him.

"He's going to shut up? And he felt the need to tell me this why?" Nodoka peered at the odd couple down the length of her nose.

"I'm sorry for any inconvenience Nodoka-sama, we'll just be on our way." She grabbed the slightly stunned form of Akito Ori and dragged him away by his arm.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, didn't you listen when I told you how to survive in Nerima?"

"But, we're the law."

"We're not the law, merely an extension of it. That's beside the point though, Nerima is a special case just like Azhu-Juuban. That book I gave you wasn't a tourist guide that was an official addendum to the laws and ordinances of Tokyo. Check the publisher." Doing as he was told he noted the tiny chrysanthemum on the spine of the book. Imperial printers had published the book which meant that the Emperors legal staff had been directed to write the book, which meant that the Emperor knew about Nerima and he apparently approved.

"But…but…"

"We're going back to the station and you're going to read that from cover to cover before you leave again do you understand?" She wasn't giving him any options as she grabbed his elbow and dragged him away.

/ Nerima \

"What a strange little man." Nodoka said as she watched the female police officer drag Akito Ori away not really noticing the irony that she was standing next to Happosai.

"Hmm, I wonder what that was all about?" Happosai might not need the ching anymore but that didn't mean he couldn't appreciate a fine figure of a woman, and the uniform was a definite clincher as far as he as concerned.

"I don't know, but it doesn't really matter, let's get going Elder Khu Lon is a more important consideration." The unlikely couple continued walking through the rapidly quieting streets of Nerima, not even deigning to take notice of the citizens around them running for what ever shelter they could find. Over the last week or so the people of Nerima had been fearful; it had never been as quiet as it was now. Not since before Ranma had first arrived in the ward anyway. They figured these two walking side by side was a sign of the other shoe about to drop.

/ Nekohanten \

The Amazon elder looked up from the sheet of paper she was working on as a surprising thing happened, she was sensing Happosai, but it wasn't Happosai, how peculiar. Strange as it seemed she was intrigued by what it could mean, she wouldn't have long to wait for her answers if she were any judge as he along with an insignificant fighter was heading in her direction. Looking down again she scrawled her signature on the bottom of the notice and then bounded for the door to place it where it would do the most good. As she paid closer attention to the approaching duo she re-evaluated the lesser fighters' abilities upwards, not much but she wasn't a bad martial artist, and there was just a taint of the warrior in her chi. Taking those clues she figured that Ranma's mother was finally coming to call.

Khu Lon looked around the room quickly, and calmly, she noted. She knew she was calm because she'd started telling herself that very thing as soon as she realized the import of Nodoka's presence. She couldn't allow herself to panic either, Amazon elders do not panic, they do not dither, they act in a clear decisive manner. Khu Lon bolted for the stairs as quickly as her cane would carry her, which was pretty damned quick by anyone's estimation. Crashing into the closed door to Xian Lon's room, she jammed the handle down and flung the door open to expose Mu Lon sitting on the bed with his wife curled in his lap. Nothing wrong with that, except neither of them was wearing a stitch and Xian's head was thrown back with her husband kissing the sensitive skin of her exposed throat. At least that was what was happening shortly after the door opened. A microsecond after that they'd separated in two pink blurs that launched a barrage of daggers in her direction. She didn't even want to think about where they were getting the weapons from.

"Grand-mother! What do you think you're doing?" Xian Lon screeched in her best cat impression.

Khu Lon didn't answer for a second as she swept seventeen daggers, a couple of weighted chains, Xian Lon's sword and a training potty out of the air. "No time, get down stairs now! Very important guest…" The elder trailed off and then blinked as her train of thought was finally derailed by what she'd seen upon entering the room, "Sorry, sorry, I'll just….Yes, I'll just wait downstairs…." She trailed off again and headed for the hallway and down the stairs. There are some things that should be kept between the interested parties and what she'd interrupted was one of those things.

The scene she left behind was a naked Mu Lon cursing at the top of his lungs while his wife scrambled into her clothes, she had an ancient and obviously demented relative to tear a strip off of, but first she had to calm her husband down.

/ Outside the Nekohanten \

Nodoka stared at the sign on the door in front of her, there was nothing unusual about it really it just seemed weird if they were going to go hunting for Ranma.

The management and staff of the Nekohanten

would like to apologise for any

inconvenience experienced due to our

closure, and would like to assure you

that we shall reopen as soon as a

long overdue renovation has been

completed.

Khu Lon, manager.

Ranma's mother reread the message to make sure she understood it before she knocked on the door. It could just mean that they intended to leave for a while. In which case Ranma could still be in trouble and so could they. She knocked again, louder this time, maybe they just didn't hear her. On the third attempt the door swung open on silent hinges to reveal a rather voluptuous woman with long purple tresses.

"How Xian Lon help honoured mother of Ranma?" asked in fractured sing-song Japanese.

"I'm here to see Elder Khu Lon. May I come in?" Xian Lon bowed to the elder as she gestured for Nodoka to enter.

"Please, Great-grandmother expecting you." The young Amazon stepped out of the doorway to allow Nodoka into the main dining area of the restaurant where she could see an elaborate setting for tea. Xian bustled off to the kitchen on an unknown errand.

"Please, won't you join me for some tea Nodoka-sama?" Khu Lon gestured to the place set on the opposite side of the table.

"Thankyou for the very kind offer Honoured Elder but I wouldn't want to impose."

"I assure you it is no imposition Nodoka-sama, I was about to have some myself. I would very much like to hear your opinion of this unworthy blend."

"I would be honoured then to join you Matriarch." Nodoka nodded graciously before seating herself, Mu Lon appeared behind her and slid the chair in properly for her. Happosai on the other hand was left to fend for himself since he hadn't been invited.

"It is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. I see you brought a rather unreliable defender though." She quirked an eyebrow towards the ancient practitioner of Anything Goes.

"Not so unreliable as you might think, not since Ranma rebalanced my Ching." He waited for the importance of that statement to sink in for a moment.

"Indeed? Then Ranma is more skilled than I'd hoped he would become. Mu Lon set another place for Grand-master Happosai," she didn't wait for Happosai's demurral of not being the Grand-master anymore as she was turning back to Nodoka to continue speaking as if she'd never interrupted the flow of her greeting, neither did she deign to note when Mu Lon swept his sleeve across the table leaving Happosai's place set. A quietly murmured 'Thankyou' from Happosai was the only acknowledgment that Mu Lon was even there. "I hope you're enjoying your tea?"

"I am, could you tell me where I might get some for myself?"

"I'll give you some when you leave. I make it myself, which is probably why it isn't all that good."

"That would be too kind. On a different subject I noticed that you intend to be closed for a few days due to renovations."

"You might say that," Khu Lon chuckled to herself at her play on words.

"I hope I'm not inconveniencing you?"

"Never think so, I always cherish these moments I spend with dear friends."

"Do you suppose we've been adequately well mannered?"

"I imagine so, we could keep going though if you're not sure, or we could move on to the weather?" Khu Lon smiled, a genuine smile, this was like dealing with the council where the pleasantries could be the most deadly form of political attack.

"No, I'm pretty sure we've covered all the bases. Shall we get down to business then?"

"Yes I think so, would you care to start Nodoka-sama?" Happosai looked on amused at the level of civility between the two women, you could almost hear the sound of axes being ground in the background.

"I don't like the way your tribe has been dealing with my son for the last two years. There needs to be some resolution to this before things get out of hand, if it continues with your Great grand-daughter continually trying to kidnap my son and haul him off to China you stand a good chance of facing repercussions." There was no particular emphasis placed on any of her words but Khu Lon could feel the undercurrent of reprimand in the tone of her words.

"Well that was rather blunt…"

"Was there any point in wasting each others time?"

"No, I suppose not. So let me be equally direct, the situation with Ranma has changed somewhat since he left for Kanakita island."

"You know where he is?" This time Nodoka was surprised, she hadn't expected that they knew that kind of information, maybe that they just knew they'd been manipulated into following a false lead or something.

"Of course, I'm no unseasoned stripling of a girl with her heart tied in knots. I knew where he was going almost before he did. Your next question is probably 'Why did you let Xian Lon follow the false trail then?' That was what you were going to ask was it not?" she asked quietly.

"….."

"To answer your question, you might say it was a test. The council believed that she wasn't worthy of being my heir, and I was blinded by the blood relationship. I was proved wrong and Xian Lon was, not punished for her lack of ability, but there was a price to be paid. You don't learn if there's nothing to lose. Xian Lon come in here." The matriarch called out to the kitchen. "Mu Lon you might as well take a seat as well, this could take some time."

"That's a number of times I've heard you call them by those names, I thought his name was Mu Tse? And hers is Xian Pu or at least that's what I was told."

"Pu was a child's name, given to her when she reached menses for the first time; Lon is the name she will carry for the rest of her life now that she is married. Tse was his family name, that has changed recently." The elder smiled pleasantly.

"Hmmm, wouldn't that have been Xian Saotome if her name changes when she gets married?"

"No, we're a Matriarchy remember? That means that Ranma would have become Ranma Lon if he had accepted the marriage." Nodoka took a second to grasp the significance of that statement then swung her gaze to Mu Lon. "That's right, she was married to Mu Lon."

"When?"

"The marriage happened the second Ranma left Nerima without our knowledge."

"Then Xian Pu has given up her pursuit of Ranma?"

"You talk as if she were given a choice, I assure you this 'was' not the case. The council of Elders decreed that the marriage would take place. Before you ask, no she didn't 'give up'; she would have happily married your son as well but was dissuaded as she currently doesn't have the fighting prowess to keep both for herself. You look surprised, maybe at the fact that polygamy is very much a facet of life in Amazon society."

"Well the thought did cross my mind…:" Nodoka said.

"It is a matter of survival, no longer can we take the traditional view that one woman and one man is a viable situation to propagate the tribe. Technically neither is one woman and many men, on the other hand one man and many women could prove useful. The problem is that the tribe is bleeding to death and with no real way to staunch the loss we must compromise, we must adapt."

"Bleeding to death?"

"Hmmm, that's what I said. Due to years of repression we are losing the strong and capable men of the village to the cities, the flow is not large but it is getting to the point where it is significant. If we Amazons don't do something soon we may be the last of our kind," Khu Lon watched the young woman across the table from her as expressions flickered across her expressive face. "Ranma would have been a great help as she was another beautiful woman, one I had hoped to add after witnessing her fight with Xian Lon in the village, but Xian's pride got in the way of that. By the time I learned that Ranma wasn't a worthy girl but an eminently worthy male much of the damage to the trust between us had already been done and I lost the chance to gain him for the tribe. He would have been a great example to show the remaining men in the village that things were changing."

"So why all the games?"

"Ask your companion here, he can tell you how tedious life can be when you live to be as old as we are," the old woman took a sip of her tea and replaced the cup on the table, "I was having fun in the guise of training him, oh he did receive valuable training never offered to a male before, but mainly it was fun to see his reactions to some of the situations I put him in. He would have always been given the training; he was too good at the art for me not to train him, even against the rest of the council's wishes. Luckily I had their concurrence with the plan."

"But why…." But stopped at the glance the Matriarch gave her.

"I wasn't finished, this is as much confession as dissemination of information. You see, and this is not an easy thing to admit," Khu Lon swallowed as her mouth went dry, "but I was jealous of Xian for her groom. My one chance to meet someone like myself and it happened too late. You might think Happosai is like me but I can tell you even when he was young, when he came to the tribe we could sense his corruption and knew that things would only become worse as time went on. I would have accepted him even then as he was the closest I'd ever seen to someone I could love, if he hadn't stolen from the tribe…."

Happosai gazed across the table at the elder understanding what he'd lost all those years ago; he'd always thought that the Amazons were playing him like they had a reputation for doing with so many others. Finding out he'd been wrong was a real kick in the seat of his pants. He sighed in resignation, she'd been a real beauty when she was young, in his opinion she even put Xian Pu to shame as hard as that was to imagine.

"….there might have been a chance for us. I gave up after that, I'd been looking for so long by then that I admit I lost hope."

"And my son? Where does he come into this?"

"He's the second man I have found worthy, the second that I could possibly fall in love with. I haven't given up on getting him into the tribe, though the choice of bride has changed."

"That's….Don't you think you're a little too old for him?"

"What? I have all my teeth, I'm still fit what's your problem?" Xian Lon looked at her Great grand-mother, she'd been right earlier the elder was demented. A fact that was proven when she began to cackle madly at the expressions of all the people sitting at the table with her. "I'm not mad you know, quite the contrary."

"Ah-huh, I believe you…."

"What you don't believe in magic? I assure you that Jusenkyou is not the only proof that it exists. I am the Amazon Lore Master for a reason," she paused as Xian Lon gasped in surprise; she'd always believed that the title was fictitious, that there was no Lore Master. That at most it was a fairy tale for young children, "I see you know what I'm talking about children?"

"Well colour me confused because I haven't got a clue what you're talking about." Nodoka admitted.

"Where to begin? I suppose I should start with the nature of magic and then work from there. There has been much discussion on the nature of magic throughout history, with some saying it is an internal art while others say we bring the power into us from an external source. As I understand it magic is external to mankind, we bring the power into ourselves through our chakra. The seven common chakra deal with life energy but there are others, ones that are undiscovered because the magic here right now is so weak. The eighth chakra was hypothesized by the Indian Gurus as far back as two and a half thousand years, they believe that it allowed them to contact an otherworldly power. I on the other hand already knew what it does, it attunes the person to the magic in the world and allows them to convert it into something they can use. In another word 'Shen', that which we Chinese call magic."

"This is all very fascinating but how is it relevant."

Khu Lon grinned at Nodoka before turning to Happosai, "Three thousand years ago the Amazons passed into China from the far reaches of Europe, they were hunted by a God. Ironically it was our own God who was chasing them for deeds committed by their forefathers. After a thousand years he had our tribe cornered inside a mountain fastness. In an act of desperation the Council of Elders sacrificed a number of children for the potential energy they held. Now knowing the very depths to which their leadership had sunk the tribe waited for death by his hand, for some reason though He stayed his hand and let the tribe live," she took another sip of her cooling tea before continuing, "He didn't spare the members of the council though, He killed them where they stood, leaving only the outcast member to live as she'd refused to take part in their plans. She made a mistake though when she cursed the elders shades that they never would pass through the gates of oblivion to be reborn, something that would come back to haunt her in later years. Azgaroth passed sentence on her and punished her with a curse of her own, that she would be reborn in each age that one of the elders escaped from the gates to wreak vengeance, reborn with the full knowledge she'd gained in her previous lives."

"Oh come on Elder, what's this got to do with anything?"

"Shhh! Xian Lon not hear this legend before."

"This is no legend Xian Lon, this is my life."

"Your life? Xian think 'Honoured' elder take own potions, yes?"

"No, unfortunately I was cursed to know each of the incarnations I have had since that day three thousand years ago. Each time I have defeated the shade of a council member and lived on continuing to research magic and other fields to make myself and the tribe stronger."

"You have defeated shades?" Nodoka repeated, this conversation was getting really strange and that was even taking into account the fact they were in Nerima.

"Yes, when you think of shades you might think of ghosts but ghosts aren't necessarily evil, ghosts are dead people who for one reason or another refuse to go on to their next incarnation. Shades are cursed individuals who cannot pass on, many are extremely evil in intent. Since they were powerful in life they were also powerful in death. My second life was spent hunting the fourth speaker, who had possessed a powerful warlord and was uniting what we now call China. The emperors of China didn't fear us for our powerful techniques, they feared us because I walked through a Chinese army to kill their emperor and there was nothing they could do to stop me." She smirked at the memory, "Fifth speaker came next, she chose to possess Prince Herbs father, that didn't go so well for her as he was even more powerful than his son, they fought for dominance and though she finally won she was too weak to fight me."

"So you killed Prince Herbs father?" Happosai asked.

"No, I exorcised her and then destroyed her, Herbs father lived for another seventeen hundred years. The only thing longer lived than Dragon-kind are their memories, we have been at peace with the Musk tribe ever since though it has been an uneasy peace at times."

"So is true, Prince Herb descend from dragons?"

"Yes, very far in the distant past but true none the less. Third speaker was convinced she could take me directly, which proved just how gullible she was. The wards around the village I'd created destroyed her before she even got close. Second was much stronger and managed to actually do a great deal of damage to the tribe before I could stop her, she became a plague that killed half the tribe, who would have thought you could possess a virus?" Khu Lon pausing for another sip of her tea found it to be stone cold, "Mu Lon make some more tea, we could be here for awhile."

"Yes elder." His white robes rustled as he swept away to make the tea as fast as he could, he didn't want to miss the end of the story.

"Now where was I? Ah, First speaker was always the strongest of the council, also she was cunning she didn't rush in and engage me, she waited on the edge of the worlds barrier, enough to make me be reincarnated but not enough to actually let me know where she was, after a couple of hundred years I gave up waiting thinking it a false alarm and allowed myself to age, giving up strength and agility so that I could benefit the tribe as an elder. That turned out to be what she was waiting for, but she waited longer than that for a chance to defeat me handily. Twenty three years ago Saffron died and was reborn and promptly died again as she possessed him. In possession of that body she could have killed me easily as I am now, but she wanted to wipe the tribe from the face of the earth as well, or that's what I figured since she didn't simply kill me and be done with it. To realize her plan she needed to ascend, with the extra power she would be unstoppable and her ambition unquenchable."

"So you engineered a meeting between my son and that monster." Nodoka said frostily.

"No though I did think about it, Ranma wasn't ready, not even with all his power, you see he still fought like a martial artist and that would not work against Saffron. She wanted me, and she knew I'd follow him to her just as she ascended. It was neat, it was clinical in execution, and unfortunately for her it was a mistake to threaten Ranma's friends. She made it 'life or death' and in doing so gave Ranma the edge he needed to kill her." No one at the table was able to pick even a skerrick of deceit from the elder, not even Happosai who was using the full abilities he'd learned over the centuries. He could tell that she had opened herself up to be examined by him though.

"You're telling the truth." Happosai was more surprised by that than he probably should have been taking into account his own life.

"Of course I am, there's no profit in lying to you at this point. I wish to court Ranma and if I lie to his mother that would not happen."

"But you is four hundred years too old for Ranma!" Xian Lon didn't see the knob on the end of the elders staff until it smacked into her forehead and then only briefly as stars filled her vision shortly afterwards.

"I'll have you know I'm only three hundred and seventy three years older than Ranma." She watched as her dazed relative slumped over her cup of tea.

"Oh and thirty years makes so much difference in your ages?" Mu Lon joined his wife as the elders extended staff caught him behind the ear on its return swing.

"Would anyone else like to make a comment on my age?" Khu Lon glared at Happosai just waiting to add him to her list. "I didn't think so."

"While the question might have been a little impolite I also wonder about it. You are older than my son by a large margin and I don't see how a relationship would work between you."

"That won't be a problem in a couple of days, let me show you something." She led the two from the dining room and down the stairs to her workroom her cane making a slight tapping sound as she bounded down them and through a rough wooden door.

"Behold! This is the culmination of my life's research into magic." Happosai and Nodoka gazed at the conglomeration of chalk marks on the floor.

"What is it?" Nodoka asked in genuine confusion.

"It's a, it's a…." Happosai looked at her and then back to the circle and then back to her as he stuttered.

"No, n-n-n-no it couldn't be because if it was…." Catching on she acted panicked as she said her line

"It's a…."

"When you two are quite finished with the 'Fifth Element' skit I'll tell you what it is. It's a regenerator; magically powered it can return me to the age of seventeen quite easily." She paused to glare at Happosai.

"I knew that." And Nodoka's, "You're no fun." Between the two of them Khu Lon wasn't going to glare at her future mother-in-law.

"My last husband didn't have a problem with my sense of fun," she paused significantly to let that sink in. Then smirked as she saw the calculating smile of Nodoka's face.

"You could make a fortune with this if it works."

"It works alright, the problem is I only know eleven people who have the potential to use this, and four of those would need extensive training, and Saffron doesn't need to use is as he doesn't die."

"And you plan to use this on yourself?"

"Yes, in fact I plan to start as soon as the kids leave for the village this afternoon."

"So Xian Lon is returning to the village?"

"Hmm, she must begin her retraining in the art and several other areas that I and the rest of the council have found lacking in her education. Mu Lon is to take up a position as a teacher in several arts that he excels at."

"A male teacher in the tribe? That's got to be a first."

"No, it's not a first, but not something that has happened in a very long time. It is time to bring equality amongst the sexes to the tribe. I won't have another stint of men burning their jock straps like we had in the sixties. It's a very disturbing sight let me tell you." Khu Lon shuddered for a moment.

"I would like to see this in action," Nodoka gestured to the circle chalked on the floor.

"I'm afraid it's not possible to do that. The wards on this room will contain the spells effects but it will drain a precisely calculated percentage of Ching from anyone in the room with me. Just shy of seventy two percent to a couple of hundred decimal places will be drained from my Ching reserve returning me to the age of seventeen. If there were anymore Ching in the room I would probably die because my age would decrease below my birth age. Conversely the other person would age by the amount of Ching drained. So if you were supposed to live to a hundred and you're thirty eight now then you'd age more than forty years in the space of a couple of days. I see you understand," as she watched Nodoka's face go pale.

"It's another reason I want the children away from here. Accidents tend to happen around a myopic duck and a crash happy Amazon warrior. I swear I'll break her of that blind spot she has for doors one of these days." Khu Lon muttered as she ushered her two guests out of the room. "As you can see I have a great deal to do over the next few hours."

"Perhaps we should continue this conversation in a couple of days when you are more yourself?"

"I would be more than happy to meet you then Nodoka-sama."

"I'll be looking forward to seeing you then."

"I'm sure you will," Khu Lon glared at Happosai as he leered at her, he remembered what she looked like when she was young and while he didn't rely on stealing Ching he was still a male with a healthy appreciation for a good looking woman. The elder led them across the empty dining room to the door and bid them goodbye before returning to the table and nudging a groaning Mu Lon awake.

"Wake up lazybones, there's a lot to do before you two leave this afternoon."

"This afternoon…" he repeated dumbly.

"Yes this afternoon, I want both of you half way back to the village before the end of the week. I'll join you at a later date. Now wake your wife and get to work." Khu Lon bounded back to her workroom to prepare herself mentally for what lay ahead.

/ Kanakita infirmary \

"Oh good you're up!" Yuriko Ikehara said as she pushed the infirmary door open as she bustled inside. "We were worried when your friend brought you in and then vanished with no explanation." Behind her the door opened again and allowed a distinguished looking elder man to enter as well.

Ranma who'd just woken up with the oddest feeling in her memory gazed at the nurse as if she were speaking a foreign language as the feeling refused to go away. Something was wrong with the scene she was looking at and she couldn't figure it out, like someone had entered her room at the Tendo's and decided to redecorate by painting the walls a slightly darker shade of white. Still trying to figure it out she swung her legs over the side of the bed against the advice of the two other people in the room and stood on shaky legs, when she straightened up she levelled her gaze and found she was looking at the top of the taller woman's head.

"Aaaaarrrrgh! You've shrunk!" Ranma exclaimed, maybe someone had gotten hold of some age reducing mushrooms, after all stranger things had happened in Nerima.

"No I haven't silly." The nurse in question said thoroughly perplexed. The door opened again and quietly allowed a concerned looking Kaoru and Nosaku to enter the room.

"We heard yelling." Kaoru murmured quietly.

"Aaaaarggghhh!! You guys have shrunk too!!" The young red-head came as close to hysterics as she'd ever come without slipping into the Neko-ken.

Nosaku looked amused as he pointed out the obvious. "Actually you've got it the wrong way round, it's not us that shrank it's you who've grown."

"Huh? What? How?" she sputtered in quick succession.

"That's one of the questions we hoped you could answer for us young lady." The man she'd seen enter earlier spoke up for the first time, he'd never met the young lady before but he'd been hearing a great deal about her from Yuriko who'd met her while he'd taken Ayu Dekisugi to the mainland for treatment.

"I ain't got a clue…" Ranma trailed off as she thought about it, nothing came to mind though.

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"Ummm….I was….Yeah that's right, Ryoga's training. I remember that…We'd covered the basics and I think I taught him….yeah I did, he knows the second step I wanted to teach him, I think, then it's kind of blank."

"Could this Ryoga fellow have done something?"

"No…He didn't do anything…"

"But you can't be sure can you?"

"Um…I don't know. That just don't feel right, like something else happened, something I did, but…." Ranma stopped suddenly as the door opened and a white blur moved towards her.

/ Rumiko \

Rumiko rolled to her feet, all four of them. She knew what had hit her, she just hadn't had time to erect an effective barrier against it, not one that shielded her and her child. Who was she kidding? The result would have been the same even if she had all the time in the world to erect a barrier. The massive wave of magical energy had rolled across the island like a tsunami, unstoppable in its inexorable way, the silver hued energy had almost washed her away. In the end it had knocked her unconscious, if it had done this much to her then…The large fox sniffed the air then dashed into some bushes along side the trail they'd been walking on and sighed in relief as she found the small white bundle of her daughter curled up with her tail wrapped over her nose as if she'd fallen asleep. Looking deeper she found the young girls essence deeply buried in her core as she attempted to restore her severely depleted energy. Making an astute guess Rumiko believed it might be many more hours before she woke and probably not before morning. Pressing her wet nose into her childs fur she snorted comfortingly before turning her canine head towards the distant Academy buildings.

If they'd truly hurt her daughter they would have been made to pay, in fact, screw that, 'Someone's going to pay!' Roshio would be safe here, she'd be safe anywhere on the island. The only thing here that would harm her had been in hibernation for longer than Kitsune written history, which was something like a hundred and forty thousand years. Deciding that she needed to get the person responsible she turned tails and streaked for the Academy where her unsuspecting quarry was just about to wake up.

Being a Kitsune has several advantages, not the least of which is speed and stealth beyond anything ever dreamt of by a human. The fox might have been large but no one even batted an eyelid as she strolled across the quadrangle in front of the Academy and inside. Some of the people around may have heard a low growl as she passed them, but most only registered it in a primitive part of their minds where the most deep seated fears of man dwelt. She could have walked across the square naked and no one would have batted an eyelid, in fact she'd have to try that one of these days, if she was wrong about her stealth abilities it ought to be truly amusing seeing all these humans react in the usual stuffy manner.

Closer now, she could almost smell the stink of wild undirected magic in the air. Down a corridor on the ground floor level and towards a door with a large red cross above the door. Nosing the door aside she slipped inside and saw the girl she'd felt a couple of days before standing across the room, before she had time to thing about it too much she leapt, she'd frighten the girl and maybe she wouldn't release massive amounts of magic to hurt innocent bystanders such as her kit again. The leap was technically perfect, the culmination of thousands of years of hunting prowess, the world blurred and her prey didn't react at all.

Rumiko had never seen or felt anything like it before. Technically she didn't see 'it' at all, when the girl reacted she just vanished from sight and her body was pinned to the floor like she'd always been there. Kitsune are many times faster than humans and yet the girl, she just couldn't be human not and move like that to pick a large fox out of the air. Rumiko would feel the change in g-forces for days and it didn't help that she'd been slammed belly first into a tiled floor.

Sixty five kilos of primeval fury let out a mortified yelp of surprise as her feet scrabbled for purchase on the slick tiles on the floor. After a few seconds of thrashing around, growling and attempting to bite her captor she managed to lift slightly only to be pushed into the floor even harder. The arm that held her didn't so much as quiver after that as if it were futile to even think of resisting. The Kitsune stilled as she began to look for a different kind of purchase, the openness of the girl's mind that had been noticed days earlier would make it even easier.

'Ah-ha!' Her expression turned to feral amusement, this would be too easy.

/ Ranma \

Ranma looked down in shock at the massive white furry bitey thing she'd plucked from the air just short of her throat and had pinned to the floor by reflex. It was proving incredibly hard to hold it down as it forced an inch or two of space under it only to have it disappear again as Ranma loosened the control on one of her sub space pockets allowing the mass to affect the world around it and subsequently pinning the creature to the floor even more effectively. 'That takes care of that! Now, what the fuck is it?'

It was too big to be a cat(she didn't notice not stuttering about the cat here, there's no neko-ken anymore), unless it was a cheetah or something, it could be a dog of some kind, only to hear the growls from the creature intensify at being compared to a dog. Taking a closer look Ranma found herself looking into the face of a white furred blue eyed fox, 'There's good eating in one of them,' she thought to herself as one of the holdovers from her training trip reared its ugly head. The fox went a little crazy after that as if it could read her mind, the tail lashed the air so fast it seemed that there was more than one of them, it took a microsecond for Ranma to realize that there were. Trying to count them she gave up at five they were just moving too much, didn't stop her from trying though. Then froze as she realized she had a Kitsune pinned to the floor and by the number of tails it had it was more than five hundred years old at least. 'Oh shit' Ranma trying to figure out how much trouble she'd gotten herself into this time tried to figure out how many more tails there were.

When the tails she was trying to count disappeared and she found herself staring intently at a naked woman's backside she reacted before she thought about it, being in close proximity to a naked woman had never proved to be good for his health. It didn't stop her from looking though, in fact she couldn't seem to help herself. The skin was pure alabaster and as smooth as a, well as a babies bottom, she supposed and she was dead. Staring at the naked part of any woman's body meant she was gonna die she just knew it. Ranma jumped away as quickly as she could hoping to gain a head-start from whatever retribution was coming only to slam into the floor face first as she forgot she was currently attached to a heavy sub space pocket while unprepared for the extra weight.

/ Rumiko \

The fox for her part was massively amused by the turn of events as she listened into the furious thoughts of the lithe red-head. On one hand she was flattered at the mental description running through the young woman's head and on the other she was downright furious as this girl had been responsible for every magical creature on the island being lambasted with more energy than they could contain. This information also led her to the conclusion that until the girl knew more about what she'd done then there was a very good chance this could happen again, and again, which was not something she would ever be looking forward to.

Even if she couldn't read the humans mind she'd have known what the red-headed girl was feeling as her other senses were far beyond those of anyone else in the room. Ranma's heartbeat accelerated and she could feel the girls Ching cycle a little higher as though she were excited, but the real kicker for the kitsune was the smell of pheromones that the girls' body was releasing instinctually. It was getting to the point where the sexual attraction from the teen was causing the anger to wash out of the much older being.

Ranma being ever quick to recover in a situation like this groaned and began to rise a move that left her face to face with the naked woman, but before she'd gotten there she'd been face to a lot of other places that made her feel uncomfortable. Rumiko watched in fascination as her victim blushed bright red, far brighter than her hair, in fact it was painful to watch. She could feel as the girls oft unused libido kicked into overdrive as she catalogued all the things she'd seen in a split second. Then with a thin trickle of blood and glazed eyes the youngster keeled over backwards in shock.

It was too much for Rumiko as she let out a slight chuckle before she regained her feet. Once up the naked woman stood over Ranma, her hand resting lightly on her hip and the other raised in a victory sign not even trying to hide her smirk as she stood over her vanquished foe.

"Hah! Vengeance is mine."

"Ahem!" at the sound of someone clearing their throat behind her she whirled giving Nosaku and the others an impromptu showing of what she'd already showed Ranma. When she stopped as suddenly as she'd started her hair continued to swirl around her until it came to rest over her pertinent assets. She gazed around meeting in order the amused eyes of Nosaku followed very shortly by the no less amused Kaoru, the nurse next to her looked shocked, on second thought maybe stunned would be a better word.

"Ummm, I can explain?" Rumiko muttered querulously.

/ To be continued…. \

Authors notes:- First and foremost, please review, I love to hear your comments about the direction this story is going in, the situations I put Ranma in, and my writing style. Not to stroke my ego, but to try and make my work better, alright maybe just a little ego stroking going on here but I won't tell if you don't.

Alright, in the next chapter Rumiko explains just what happened to that semi sphere of earth and rock Ranma vanished, why all the magical creatures on the island passed out, what the ancient creature hibernating on the island is, though I'm sure most could figure it out or take a stab in the dark and still get it. I'll probably get to the fight as well, but then again, no I'll definitely do the fight in the next chapter. Even if it turns into a twenty five thousand word monster. The next update will have a number of visitors both familiar and OC. Oh and Ryouga, we can't let him get lost in the chapters again now can we?


	17. Chapter 17

Phoenix Ascension

Chapter 17

Disclaimer:- Someone else owns the characters I'm using. If you have an issue with this I'd suggest taking it up with them. Me I'm just a lowly _**unpaid**_ fanfiction writer with all that implies.

THIS MAY ANSWER SOME QUESTIONS BEFORE YOU ASK THEM!!!

A few notes, Ranma isn't being given an instant power up. It's dormant, though he will gain other powers due to what he just did in the last chapter. Someone asked what happened to all the soil under Ranma, this chapter will explain, hopefully in a credible manner.

As always, please review. When I get down about things, I go through those reviews and use them to renew my writing spirit. Whether good or bad your views are appreciated greatly. I also forgot to mention that Brindani2000 proof-read this for me making it much easier to read, so my thanks go out to him.

/ Kanakita - Sunday afternoon \

Nosaku barely saw the white blur as it passed him at shoulder height, and he definitely didn't see Ranma move as she plucked the blur out of the air and pinned it to the ground. Once there, he barely had time to register the fact that it was a massive white furred fox before the creature morphed into a very attractive and very naked woman. An irreverent part of his mind informed him he'd been right, Rumiko was a very well put together woman under that concealing robe she wore. The reality nearly caused him to swallow his tongue as here was proof, in the flesh, so to speak, that he'd been right.

The sight overloaded his mind for vital seconds as the next thing he saw was Ranma reacting to the fact she had a beautiful naked woman pinned to the floor by her neck.

A look of total incomprehension rapidly followed by panic flashed across the young red-heads face as she realized just what she'd caught, and then she attempted to jump away only to face-plant into the ground, a matter that Nosaku would have to look into latter. A moment or so later Ranma rose to her knees and keeled over backwards with a trickle of blood coming from her nose, Kami knew Nosaku felt like doing the same thing even though he was over ninety years old, he still had a pulse and the view of Rumiko rising to her hands and knees from his angle had him reaching for the bridge of his nose.

Kaoru raised her eyes to the ceiling and snorted, 'Men!' as she watched both Ranma and Nosaku react to the presence of Rumiko in the room. Yuriko, the nurse, was left doing a credible impression of a stone statue for a few seconds after the white haired nude rose to her feet and declared her vengeance, but she came out of it in time to hear the fox-lady say, "Um I can explain?" sheepishly as she turned to the clans elder.

"I certainly hope you can. I'd hate to think you were starting to attack members of my family randomly and for no reason." Rumiko winced at the harsh tone in his voice, and then smiled as she realized he was trying to talk through constricted vocal chords. The mental imagery running through his head was extremely revealing though.

"It's all his fault." The Kitsune's imperious finger swung in Ranma's direction.

"Ranma? What did he do?" Nosaku asked curiously.

Yuriko shook her head as she heard the strange woman and the clan leader talking about Ranma as if she were a he. Mind you, after seeing a Kitsune up close and personal she was beginning to loosen her grip on what she would and wouldn't believe since Kitsune were renowned pranksters. This sounded just like the stunts they told of in the old stories.

That harsh sound was back in his voice when he spoke for the second time. Rumiko tried to fathom what could be wrong with the usually staid Clan leader. Cross-referencing the expression on his face with his current thoughts led her to look down at herself.

"Eeeeep!" she exclaimed even as her hair rose around her, concealing her current state of undress from view. When her hair dropped again she was fully clothed in her usual robes, much to Ranma's relief, as she lay directly behind the Kitsune, panting for breath before she hyperventilated in shock at what had just happened. The 'It's his fault.' Comment had her paying closer attention as she looked up to find the strange lady pointing a finger back at him.

Ranma was about to say, "Yeah! What he said! Wha'd I do?" Only she was sidetracked as the door sighed open and a familiar face appeared.

"Is everything alright in here? It's just I heard some loud noises."

"Yes Rio, everything's fine now. We're just sorting out a few things." Nosaku said

"Oh, so is Ranma awake yet?"

"He was for awhile but then he seemed to pass out again."

"I'm alright." A quiet voice was heard from on the far side of Rumiko, this time loud enough to be heard.

"Good. Then won't you join us and maybe we can get to the bottom of this?" He gazed pointedly at the strange white haired lady in the centre of the room. Rio couldn't remember ever seeing her before and hair that colour would be truly memorable.

Rumiko, seeing that the situation was escalating by the second, decided to choose total honesty in how she answered the question.

"He did something a little while ago that knocked out both me and my daughter."

"Hey lady! I ain't never seen you before. So how could I knock you out? And there's no way I'd ever hit a child!" Ranma exclaimed from the floor.

"Are you sure it was Ranma?" Nosaku asked.

"Well, it wasn't the boy who was with him. He only had enough Shen to account for his curse."

Rio, who knew about Ranma and his curse, was quickly joining Yuriko in the belief there might be more magic in the world than she'd ever thought. Oh alright, she'd never believed in magic before; but here was Ranma serving as living proof of its existence. Then there was this woman who was speaking so casually about it all as if she were merely commenting on the weather.

"Er, could someone fill me in on what's happening here, and who's the lady in white?" Rio asked, her curiosity peaked by the tableau before her.

"Hello," the lady in question bowed slightly in her direction, "I'm Rumiko."

"Rumiko, this is Rio, my great grand-child by Kogane and Saito."

"Ah yes you've mentioned her to me. It's a pleasure to meet you Rio. I have an uncle named Rio, but he's a nine-tail and we don't see much of him anymore." Damn the energy restrictions that meant nine-tails had to hibernate for long stretches of time.

'Hold on, nine-tail?' Rio looked at her closer as if trying to figure something out. "Nine tail?" she asked, fearing the possibility that Rumiko was delusional.

"We're Kitsune," Rumiko stated simply.

"There's no su…….ch thing?" Rio watched in disbelief as the woman transformed into a creature of legend right before her wide eyes. That was the largest damn fox she'd ever seen, its white fur shone blindingly under the artificial lights of the infirmary.

"You were saying Rio?" Nosaku always loved to introduce his long-time friend to new people. It reminded him so much of the day his father had done the same thing to him all those years ago.

"Erg, what hit me?" Ranma moaned as she managed to raise herself to her elbows and groaned even louder in protest when she noted that the damn fox was back.

"I believe that was Rumiko." Nosaku looked quickly away as a sparkle entered his eyes; he was having a great deal of fun at the youngsters expense.

"Who's Rumi..mmmfl ptah!" Ranme tried to say as she suddenly found her mouth full of white fur. Making a grab for the offending tail, she managed to subdue it only to be attacked by all of the others in a similar manner as Rumiko sat nonchalantly wagging her tails in apparent happiness. Rio decided that it was really too hard to tell if a fox was smirking in amusement or not, but the feeling she was getting from the animal was heavily tinged with the emotion.

Ranma for her part was getting extremely frustrated. No sooner would she manage to get the situation under control than the fox would slip her grip yet again. It was nearing the point when she was about to retaliate with a low power Mouko Takabisha to singe the tail end of the fox when the tails vanished along with the body they were attached to. When the white haired lady reappeared, she was peering over the old mans shoulder sticking her tongue out at him.

"When you two are quite finished, I'd like to get to the bottom of this sometime before dinner if you don't mind," The old man turned so that he could once again see both of them, "So Rumiko-sama, would you care to tell us what is happening?"

"I would, but first I need to show you something. Come with me." The smile slid away from her face as she tried to impart just how serious the situation actually was.

Nosaku shrugged, he'd follow his respected visitor if only to find out the answers he wanted. He thought as he watched her walk sedately from the room, 'If she's moving that slowly, she's either being considerate or this isn't as serious as she first implied.' Deciding he'd find out more if he followed her, he motioned for the others to precede him from the room and then brought up the rear as they headed out onto the playing fields behind the Academy.

"So where are you taking us?"

"You need to see the results of what you did, Ranma. You have no idea how close…..just wait and see." Rumiko continued walking, picking up the pace a little as they entered the shade of the trees.

"Hey, isn't this the way to where Ryoga and I trained this morning?"

"Hmmm, that's right Ranma. Patience, you'll see what I want you to see shortly." She wouldn't respond to anything that was said to her after that, thankfully for his sanity the fifteen minute walk didn't seem all that bad. Nosaku was thankful as he wasn't in the best shape even if he was strong enough for short bouts of training.

When they came out of the forest into the bright light of the afternoon, Ranma and a number of the others had to shield their eyes from the glare. Rumiko became a blinding flame of reflected light as she stopped and waited for the others to catch up.

"Don't walk past me. Wait for your eyes to adjust for a moment." Ranma and the rest of the group stopped as she'd bade them and waited. The young red-head was the first to be able to see what Rumiko was standing on the edge of.

"What the fuck?" She looked around quickly and found that they were at the place she'd brought Ryoga. She hadn't been wrong when she said she had something that Ranma needed to see. "How did this….?"

She looked down into the pit and found that it was a perfect hemisphere of smooth black crystal. The sun shining into its surface refracted within turning the dark stone so that it glowed brightly, almost too brightly to look at directly.

"This? Oh, this is what happens when you awaken a Chakra point that you have no knowledge of."

"It's never happened like this before, an' I can guarantee that I didn't know anything about the others before I worked through them."

"Maybe not Ranma, but at least you knew enough to start slowly. For some reason, you chose to shove as much ki as you could through this newly opened Chakra, and in the process I think you came close to killing yourself at the very least."

"Are you serious?" Nosaku spoke up.

"Yes. I'm not sure why he's still alive at all. Look, this crater is formed by an imbalance in the energy conversion process." She looked up and realized she'd lost them all.

"Okay, I'll simplify it. There are eight Chakra, six of them deal mainly with the distribution of ki while the other two are slightly different. The first of them deals with reproduction. It also stores your Ching, the energy that regulates the length of your life. The second of the special cases deals with an energy called Shen; you pour a small amount of ki into the Brahma Chakra and your body converts it and an external form of energy called mana into Shen. Shen can be used by the persons will to cast any number of different spells, from the simplest cantrip for luck to the spells that shape places like Jusenkyou, though that kind of thing is beyond us mere mortals."

"Now in Ranma's case, that's all well and fine. He poured a lot of ki into the Brahma Chakra and thus converted a lot of mana to Shen. The problem arises when there isn't enough loose mana around to convert. One of two things can happen in that instance, the first is that the persons own mass is converted to energy until it no longer exists. You were lucky you were externalizing your ki at the time though as the second thing happened, you converted the soil and rock under you into energy."

"He did what?" Nosaku and Rio spoke at the same time. Kaoru remained in the background and watched everything for later consideration. Ranma was deep in thought about something Rumiko had said earlier and so missed the latter part of the explanation.

"You know that matter is just condensed and structured energy right? That's how things like atomic weapons work; they convert the small mass of uranium or plutonium into energy which then destroys the target. Everything is made up the same way, though most matter is quite stable and not liable to explode like that. Another thing is that energy cannot be destroyed. It can be stored, converted, distributed, but never destroyed. This is where I have a problem explaining why Ranma here isn't so much ash blowing away on the breeze."

That managed to snap the young red-head out of her contemplation that she might actually be able to be the dark sorcerer that Kuno was always accusing her of being.

"Huh?"

"Maybe you'd better explain a little more," Nosaku said as he regarded the Kitsune solemnly.

"Let me see if I can explain this to you, I'm a Kitsune, that's obvious you might think. Do you actually understand what that means? I'm a creature of magic, of Shen, my species evolved in a time when mana was plentiful. Humans on the other hand evolved in an environment that was depleted, mana is not as plentiful as it once was and so people can't access as much Shen. Magic overall is not as strong as it once was, though there have been brief flashes of it throughout history, such as the one that led to the witch burning and inquisition in Europe, or the Salem witch hunts. Numerous miracles can be attributed to slight rises in ambient mana energy as well. You see that crater there?" Everyone looked down and wondered how the hell you were supposed to miss a crater that was fifty meters across since they'd nearly fallen into it.

"I could create one like it, if I poured every skerrick of Ki I possess into it, I could form one maybe three or four metres across. A human just couldn't have created one as big as this. You just don't have the potential to do it. My question for Ranma is just what are you? You're certainly not human."

"Hey who're you sayin' ain't human?" Ranma-chan glared at the white haired woman.

"You. There are only three or four creatures that I know of that could convert this kind of energy. Tell me have you ever been near a Kami, a demon, dragon or phoenix?"

"Yes."

"Which one?"

"Um, all of 'em." Rumiko and the others blinked at her as she stated blithely that she'd been in contact with gods and other creatures out of mythology as if she were talking about another day at school or a walk in a park. Of course, who were they to talk? They were currently in the company of a Kitsune.

"All of them? I see.." she murmured, "I think we need to find out which you've become. I assure you we can discount your being a demon though, as I'd be able to sense any evil powerful enough to create a crater like that." She pointed down into the black crystal lined crater.

"Er, how are you going to do that? I mean, I can answer questions for ya, but I don't know anything about me being any one of those things."

"Hmm, I feel the only certain way to find out is to take a spirit walk."

'Huh? What's that, and is it dangerous?" Ranma looked concerned at the woman he'd only just met.

"Well I won't lie, the risks are really quite minimal if I take proper safety precautions but they do exist."

"You sure it's a good idea then. I mean I don't want anyone to get hurt over this." Ranma couldn't figure out where the lady was coming from, first she'd tried to hurt her and now she seemed to be putting herself at risk to help Ranma. It helped that she could sense the Kitsune's aura and felt no deceit even if she wasn't sure that it manifested the same way as it did in a humans aura.

"Don't worry. I don't think we have any other choice than to do this if we want to get the information we need. It could be more dangerous not knowing what we're dealing with." Rumiko frowned slightly as she prepared for what could be a mental ordeal if she made a mistake. Then again making a mistake could very well be the last thing she ever did.

"What do ya want me to do, Rumiko-sama?"

"I need you to sit down, get comfortable, and if you could meditate that would be helpful. Basically, I need you to calm your mind as much as possible."

"Okay, consider it done."

Rumiko watched as the young girl complied with her request, but she was seeing much more than what her mundane eyes could see. The thoughts and memories of the teenager had been awhirl just moments before, but now seemed to be slowing rapidly. "Good. Deep even breaths, that's right. Okay Ranma, I want you to imagine a vast desert, the sky is dark and the stars are hidden. The sand is flat as far as your eyes can see." She spoke calmly, soothingly as she described a scene she'd used before to allow her to synch her mind to that of a human.

"Now shape a door, make it plain and colour it green. Can you see the green door, Ranma?"

"Uh-hunh." Ranma-chan nodded slightly as she spoke in a dreamy tone of voice.

"Open the door Ranma, but don't step through it." Rumiko cast a glance at the old man who seemed about to say something and shook her head at him. She watched in satisfaction as he subsided.

She closed her eyes slowly and then opened her 'eyes', looking out across a dark landscape. She touched the sand and for the first time she could hear the tiny grains grind against each other. Above, the moon hid behind a veil of thin cloud forming a luminous halo. The detail was astonishing to the eight hundred and something(it's not polite to ask a lady her age) year old Kitsune as she had never encountered a human that was capable of this level of mental clarity. Certainly, the fact that he was using memories as a basis for it made it a little simpler, but in another sense it made it a lot harder, as he had to filter out any extraneous images attached to the memories he used leaving only those elements he desired.

Before her stood a green door, just as she asked him, except that it appeared to be made of translucent glass. On the far side she could see a vague shadow that moved towards the door. The door opened further to reveal a blinding light that she had to shade her eyes from and through which the shadow of a tall man could be seen. No features were visible to her at the moment, but she could make out the fact that his hair was made up of individual strands that moved independently. A most unusual occurrence even amongst her own kind as it took a very strong self image to render oneself onto the dreamscape in this amount of detail.

'You see me Ranma?' Now that they were face to face she didn't need to vocalize her instructions for him to hear them, they could talk mind to mind.

'Yeah, I can see you.'

'Good, now hold out your hand.' She watched as he extended his arm out to her, she really shouldn't have been surprised that the hand she beheld was well formed, showing the hard won calluses from his years of training. His short finger-nails and strong blunt fingers, the smooth palm leading to a supple wrist that even she could see was strong enough to withstand a great deal of punishment. The wiry muscles in his forearm leading up to his elbows and the even larger muscles of his triceps and bicep, the shoulders were broader than the muscled chest that tapered down to a slim waist. So taken with her perusal of this man was she that she almost forgot to reach out and take his hand, an act that drew another gasp from her as she felt a shock of vital force battle her own and almost win. Pity he was the wrong species for her or she'd take him up on his attempt to claim her.

'Oh well.'

'Huh? What's that supposed to mean?'

'Never you mind, Ranma. You have a very strong sense of who, and what you are don't you?'

'Look I know it's weird, but what I look like on the outside don't affect who I am in here,' Ranma shrugged to indicate where he meant, ' Here I'm always me, no matter what some dumb curse does to my body.'

'Yes, indeed, a point that many people miss. Well, aren't you going to invite me in?' she asked, her tone let Ranma know that she was vexed that he had left her outside.

'Uh, sure, come on in. Erm, couldn't you just have pushed your way…?'

'I could have, at least I think I could have," she tried not to reveal the true doubt in her mind. "The problem is that if you had fought me, I don't know if I could have won that battle, not with how strong you are in your self image.'

'Run that by me again.' Ranma was unsure of her meaning but assumed she'd explain it for him if he asked nicely.

'Put simply, it's safer if I'm invited; it becomes chancy or downright dangerous if I attempt to force the connection. In the worst case, I might end up trapped in your mind for the rest of your life. Which, if I'm correct, could be a very long time.'

'Just what the hell do you think I am, for Kami's sake?'

'That, Ranma, is what I'm here to find out, along with what you did earlier today.' She stepped over the threshold, she was unsurprised when he disappeared. The door behind her was also gone, but she could feel the reassuring pull of her spiritual anchor so she knew she could leave anytime she liked. Getting in was the hard part, getting out was always easy as long as you weren't cast adrift. Beside her a small mote of light floated at about head height, a very focused energy form that she recognized as Ranma's spiritual consciousness, she probably looked the same to him though she'd be bigger as her life had been longer.

'Are you ready to delve into the deepest darkest recesses of your body Ranma?'

'YES!' The voice echoed around her from all directions wrapping her in a cocoon of overwhelming sound. Rumiko let out a yelp though she shouldn't have been surprised as she was. If she was correct, there'd come a time when entering his mind like this would be dangerous whether invited or not, but if she was right then he was much too young to have any kind of real power in comparison to his adult form.

'Please Ranma don't think at me for now. Your inner voice is overpowering. Just let me do what I need to and then we can discuss it when we're safe and I'm outside.' He didn't say anything in response, but she felt his acquiescence none the less.

She'd noted many times that humans were a totally different species on the energy plane and Ranma was no different, not in the layout sense anyway. He was a bit like that place in America she'd heard of, now where was it? Ah, Texas, that was it, a place where everything's bigger and better.

Following what should have been a thin conduit, maybe a fifth as wide as her energy matrix, which carried his ki she was shocked to see something that was eight times as wide as her energy matrix. As a veritable waterfall of energy flowed downwards cycling back towards his main ki reservoir, delving deeper she found the first of his Chakra, the thousand petal lotus Chakra, his link with the over-mind, Kami, whatever you chose to call the cosmic awareness that shaped the universe, or at least the part of it that his personality was attuned to. Following it downward even further she eventually came to his Third Eye, through which he could see the spiritual plane if he were ever to become that enlightened, and here she noticed the first evidence of his recent activities, the ki node was literally leaking ki in a flood that threatened to wash her away if she got too close. She wasn't that foolish though as she watched the node expand slightly, and again as it attempted to adapt to the load it was currently under. At the rate of expansion it might take a couple more days for it to settle down, but that was something she'd have to investigate at a later date.

Rumiko followed the well worn channel that his ki used, off in the distance she could feel something that pulled her faster and faster as she approached like a piece of iron being drawn to a magnet, and there before her stood a terrifying sight, his Brahma Chakra was massive, much larger than anything she'd ever seen, and she'd been trained by a nine tail, this dwarfed the Shen reserves held by Rin, or by Rio her uncle even, or both of them combined with the rest of her clan. 'What are you?'

'HUH?'

'Ow! Stop that, it hurts!'

'….'

'And that, I can feel you thinking!' She sighed in relief as she felt him withdraw back into a mental void. She stopped moving as she resisted the pull of pure Shen with great difficulty and moved off in another direction, testing a theory she advanced into his primitive mind and found something she had known would be there. Before her stood a dark void of nothingness, in the fine tracery of ki flows there was just this black shape that when viewed in a certain way resembled the egg that it was. Rumiko knew how to penetrate that dark veil though and after a brief search found another set of jewel bright eyes peering back at her. Resisting the urge to ask what he was again lest he answer she approached cautiously and began to notice more detail, such as the matter that the closer she got the larger the creature seemed until it appeared to tower over her. Coming in even closer she began to be able to make out other features and found that there was definite proof of avian ancestry, or maybe….No that would be….It couldn't, could it? A true Phoenix? Here, in this mortal body? Not one of those fake creatures that infected this world but a true celestial being, a traveler amongst the stars. Could…. 'Oh My Kami!' as understanding tore through her.

As she approached closer still her perspective changed until she appeared as a mote in its eye, a tiny fleck of power engulfed in an ocean of the same, this is where all the energy went as he transformed it to Shen and Ching she thought dazedly. She could feel it as she passed into the second spirit, the true form of Ranma Saotome, the Phoenix. His human body was impressive in scale but this dwarfed that, making the immense power she'd seen before seem like a puddle. What a pity they were of differing species, they could have made such powerful babies together, of course that wouldn't stop her from dallying with him if the chance arose. snicker

Unlike humans the Phoenix is one vast Chakra reserve where all three forms of energy mingle without any kind of organization, in truth the Phoenix was a true creature of chaos for that very reason. Now that she'd seen what she needed to see, she could pull herself out and continue the search of his mundane human spirit, a trek that would provide much information about what had shaped him into the person he was.

She daren't look back as she left the chaotic haven that was his second soul, or maybe that was his first soul? Later she would think of all she'd found but first there was a small matter of investigating an imbalance she'd sensed in her\him the other day when she'd sensed the intrusion into Nosaku's study. Passing down through the throat, she sensed another of his Chakra overflowing with ki. Further down his heart Chakra burned with it, almost incandescent to her 'sight'. She descended past his main ki reserve with her senses dulled as she attempted to shut them down as much as possible so as to not be blinded, and then there was a slight void in which she could 'see' the stunted reservoirs, the ki channels that seemed like any other normal humans, and there, near where she'd expected it to be was subtle evidence that there had once been a pinch where the pressure point had been applied to a young boy. A pressure point that didn't quite meet up with the same point on a young girl.

What did this mean? She knew what she suspected and that was that Ranma's female form was more developed in a maturity sense than his male form. Who would do something like this to a young child? Why would anyone want to keep Ranma so childlike for the rest of his life? How could she tell him that someone had done such a thing to him? The fact was that regardless of her wishes, she'd have to tell him, but for the time being she'd tell him as little as she felt she could get away with. There was no point adding to the stress levels that the youth was already under.

Rumiko had only two more questions she needed answers to. The first of which was what had led to the physical changes in Ranma-chan, though she did have a suspicion as to what it was. After that, she was hoping to appease her curiosity about a certain curse the red-head was afflicted with, and so she delved deeper inside Ranma, hoping to unearth these secrets as she went.

/ Ranma \

Ranma felt as uncomfortable as she ever remembered being. Even the first moments she'd spent as a girl didn't begin to compare to the feeling of having someone rummaging through her mind, her body and her energy. It took everything she had to fight the instinct to oust her guest. Only the thought of having an angry Kitsune take up permanent residence inside her skull for the rest of a possibly very long life halted her in her tracks. Even if this Rumiko woman was wrong and she wasn't some kind of…whatever Rumiko thought she might be, then there was still the fact that with the techniques Khu Lon had been teaching her recently that she'd still have a very long life, maybe into centuries just like the 'Old Freak' and the 'Old Ghoul' but at least trying to fight the seven signs of aging. Ranma thought about the last part of that statement and figured she'd been watching too much television recently.

Ranma was so enthralled with her current musings that she almost missed the quietly asked question from her visitor.

'What are you?'

'Huh?' Ranma wasn't even sure that the question had been asked of her but it was always polite to make sure. Well maybe not, as she'd just been told in no uncertain terms to shut up and wait till the Kitsune left the building to ask the many questions she was sure to have. Being totally sensitive to the nature of those around her, she also picked up on some of Rumiko's current emotions such as awe, and not a little fear. Thinking she might have actually scared the woman, she pulled back and didn't respond to any of her visitors exclamations of surprise. Even refusing to acknowledge the sudden spike of elation/fear/awe/admiration she felt from Rumiko at one point.

Shortly thereafter Ranma lost herself in thoughts about what would happen in the near future. She'd given some serious thought to becoming one of the Itsunagi clan but still hadn't reached a conclusion, people like Makodai had her worried as to her reception from the majority of the people in the clan. If it were only one or two that disliked her then she had nothing to worry about, that about summed up the rest of her young life. Speaking of Makodai she still hadn't figured out how she was going to deal with him, humiliation sounded great at first blush, but there were the repercussions of making a lifelong enemy. Alright, maybe not lifelong, she would definitely outlive him, but it could seem like an eternity if he was a real determined man.

After awhile, thoughts of what she'd do to the Itsunagi master of martial arts lost their appeal and she turned to look for the meddlesome fox that had invaded her mind, even if there had been a tacit invitation. Searching near all of her Chakra she found no trace of the jewel toned energy matrix that represented the white haired woman here on the ethereal plane. Checking the place near to where she'd heard Rumiko gasp in shock and surprise over a discovery that Ranma had no idea about. She didn't find Rumiko, but she did find a void in her ki, a dark inky blackness that no matter how hard she tried could not be penetrated. That though became an insignificant concern as once again she found only minute traces of the energy matrix of the Kitsune.

Following them she found further evidence that Rumiko had indeed 'come' this way, though there was still no actual sign of the emerald and sapphire hued energy of her invited guest. Down past the heart Chakra, and past her main ki reservoir she trailed her quarry like Xian Pu had trailed him across half of China and Japan until she reached one of the Chakra she'd felt open up earlier. 'Looking' around showed that this area wasn't as used as other parts of her energy system, in fact the ki channels were stunted in comparison, thin, unable to carry the sheer tumultuous torrent of ki that the others in his body could. Though she could see recent striations in the surface of the ki conduits that spoke of recently being stretched beyond their capacity.

These discoveries, along with the dark void, were things that she'd have to consider later though as she reached the end of the trail of ki that had depicted the Kitsune's travels through her body. Retracing her tracks brought her to the same place and the same conclusion, Rumiko had vanished without a trace. Ranma was beginning to panic now as she initiated another sweep only to be interrupted by a quiet voice, an external voice.

"Open your eyes Ranma."

'But….'

"Open them, you know you want to. 'Es ooou dooo!" Rumiko cooed at him.

Ranma's eyes popped open and promptly closed again in protest at the rash action, as the bright light threatening to sear her retina overrode the need to check if Rumiko really had been speaking to her in the tone that Akane reserved for P-chan, well used to until she found out about a certain curse. Anyone else would have recognized it as baby talk, but then again Ranma rarely spent any time around people who barely reached his knees, well if you didn't count a certain geriatric hentai and the 'Old Ghoul', who he was pretty sure would beat you to an inch of your death if you used that tone to address them.

"What happened to my eyes?" Ranma asked urgently.

"Oops, did I forget to mention that you're going to be a little sensitive to light for a couple of minutes?" Rumiko said trying to sound oh so innocent.

"Yeah. Must'a slipped ya mind." Ranma bit off sarcastically while gingerly opening her eyes to bare slits. The first thing she noticed through the tears was that the Kitsune lady had her eyes closed and her body turned away from the sun.

"Hey you ain't got your eyes open either!" she yelled accusingly.

"What? Do I look stupid hatchling?"

'Hatchling?' she thought before voicing the question out loud.

"Oh, just a slip of the tongue, hatchling." Rumiko said merrily to the rapidly increasing vexation of a certain pig-tailed martial artist.

Seeking to derail Rumiko's newest technique to annoy his young relative Nosaku spoke up.

"So doctor, what's the prognosis? Is the patient going to live?"

Rumiko turned and incautiously opened her eyes to stare at the old man, then winced at the bright light. She huffed at the throaty chuckle emanating from the young girl behind her, and the call of 'idiot' as well.

Nosaku wasn't about to let the two start again so interrupted, "Ahem!" he raised an eyebrow inviting the white haired woman to answer his question.

"Hmmm? Oh yes, well I'd have to say that he's going to live. Though there was a slight risk earlier, something I discovered on my spirit walk has alleviated that concern."

"Would you care to elaborate a little more?"

"Right, you want to know what I found. Well, to be succinct, I found that my earlier contention was correct. Ranma isn't as human as he appears."

"What?" Nosaku asked sharply.

"Oi! I'm as human as they come!"

"If Ranma isn't human then what is he?" Rio asked, speaking up for the first time in a while.

"Bingo! That's the right question, and for your prize I'll inform you that young Ranma here has become a Phoenix. Well almost."

"Hey! I ain't nuthin' like Saffron!" Ranma wasn't going to stand for being compared to that freak, after all they looked nothing alike, didn't act alike either. Ranma wasn't arrogant, over-bearing, egotistical….

"No you're not, and I'll explain why eventually. First though I have to find a few answers from my Lord O-Inari."

"Erm, okay but don't think I'm letting you off the hook. So what else did ya find? You were in here for a really long time." Nosaku glanced questioningly at his great grand-child as from his perspective they had only closed their eyes a bare thirty seconds ago. From that, he surmised that things were very different wherever they'd been.

"Well I made so many discoveries that to be honest I'm not sure where to start. I suppose I should start with the least of the problems and work up to the real biggie."

"Fine by me as long as you start talkin' sometime this century." Ranma folded her arms across her chest.

"Right, first up. There's a little known pressure point on the human body, it has no name and you won't find it in any journal or training manual. In fact, it's been a forbidden pressure point for so long I didn't think I would ever see a victim of it. That is until today. Hold on, before you jump in again, I'm getting there, I promise. It'll just take a bit of background information for you to understand how serious it could have been for you.

The pressure point is on a particular meridian in everyone's body, well in you humans anyway, and in fact it doesn't do anything unless activated. This particular meridian distributes the body's supply of Ching where it's needed. This process is autonomous, Ching goes where it is needed regardless of personal whim. Now if you completely shut off the flow of Ching by activating this pressure point incautiously, you die, it's as simple as that since everyone needs Ching to live. That of course is the worst case scenario but there are other ways to manipulate it.

Such as applying pressure off centre to the pressure point, an easy enough thing to do, if say you have even rudimentary ki sight. This will inhibit but not block the flow of Ching to the body. Why go to all that trouble? To put it simply, the person afflicted in this way will mature slower leaving them child-like for longer. Take Ranma here for example…"

"You saying someone used this on me?" Ranma asked urgently.

"Well duh Ranma, after all, this is all about you or didn't you figure that out yet? Getting back to the point I was making. Ranma hasn't actually reached puberty in his male form yet, and only just in his female form."

"Okay there's no way I can let you get away with that statement, I ain't immature!" Ranma was almost nose to nose with Rumiko when he yelled that.

"Let me ask you a question Ranma. What do you think about…girls and romance or sex?"

"Ugh," Ranma took a step back in surprise and dismay, though she had to admit it was more of a conditioned response, a small part of her perked up at the question, just a little bit.

"I rest my case, you react to girls in a similar way to a seven or eight year old boy. Total indifference to their presence and mild revulsion at the thought of sex, oh and total bewilderment at what motivates them. Trust me the bewilderment won't change but the rest would have as you reached about thirteen mentally and physically. So far, you've managed to reach that age physically but your mind is lagging behind. It's also why you have such a short attention span for things like school, though you are taking things more seriously now while you seek your mother's approval. Your girl side on the other hand, is much more advanced maturity wise. Physically, both forms are in the same condition.

You can thank whatever Kami you like that the source of information the practitioner used on you took into account the differences in the male and female meridian system or you might not be here. The meridian that the pressure point falls on in a girl is in a slightly different place, maybe a couple of millimeters, a significant amount of space when considering the fine control needed to inhibit the pressure point without shutting it down. Now as it shifted the other way, it opened up more space through which your Ching could flow thus speeding the maturing process of your female form."

"But why?"

"Well I really can't answer that, but I can guess. As I said, it leaves the victim childlike for longer. In your case Ranma I think your male body would have reached actual puberty when you were fifty or so years old, your female form is pretty much there already. As a child you would have had brief spates of rebelliousness, but over all you would have been more trusting of your parents, controllable even. Ah I see you understand what I mean." Ranma's battle aura had flared suddenly and had gone through the spectrum of reds and was currently approaching a red so dark it was almost black as everyone scrambled back from the towering inferno of angry ki.

"Pops!" Ranma threw her head back and screamed at the heavens, before unleashing a vast ball of ki into the sky. A humorous thing would have been if it rained a small flock of ready cooked birds from the sky overhead, but that would have been inappropriate for the seriousness of the situation and that didn't happen anyway. Thus, I won't tell you what really 'did' happen to the stealthed alien scouting party that was currently orbiting the planet in preparation for a hastily cancelled invasion of the primitive blue planet. After all, they couldn't truly be as primitive as they seemed if they could obliterate an entire ship with a beam weapon of that magnitude. Could they? The ball of ki sailed serenely on through space, uncaring of the fate of the aliens. A few thousand miles later it dissipated into the void.(sorry couldn't resist, this is Ranma and chaos is his forte.)

"Feeling better?"

Ranma looked at her and if looks could kill, she'd have been a smear spread over most of the island. As it was, Ranma hadn't figured out how to do that kind of attack 'yet'.

"NO! I wanna kill him!" She clenched her fists and made rending motions with her hands as if she were tearing an imaginary foe apart. When she opened her hands later she'd discover a number of small crescent shaped scars in her palm where she'd clenched them so hard.

"On the plus side Ranma, you would have lived longer this way." Rumiko stepped back as the girls head snapped her way.

"That ain't funny, furball!"

"You know, name calling like that is almost a confirmation of my diagnosis in and of itself, very childlike. Anyway, you don't need to worry about that anymore, well unless you allow your father to reapply it. On a different note, now that your mind is going to be maturing at a rapid rate you're going to find things even more confusing for a while. I'd suggest you borrow some books from Kaoru over here to learn as much as you can about human sexuality."

"I've already done so, Ranma here seemed very confused about the whole issue when she arrived and sought information. Now that I know about the pressure point, I would have to say that no matter how many books she had read it would still have made no sense to his male side, though his girl side would have probably acted on the urges inherent in maturing."

"Hunh?" Ranma asked intelligently. She really hated it when people talked over her head about this stuff.

"Hold on a moment, from what I just heard you're saying that Ranma wasn't mature in his male form. But that doesn't correlate with what Nodoka told me of his behaviour in Nerima. He had all the typical signs of a young man on the cusp of manhood, the overt aggression, overblown ego, rebelliousness," Nosaku paused as an indignant 'Hey!' was voiced in the background, "How do you explain this? He must have been producing testosterone to be like that."

"Simple, he was trained to act like that. Mental conditioning when young can modify behaviour like this. In other words, it was all an act, a sham, a con started by whoever used the pressure point on him. Moving on, the next thing I found is related in a way. When you converted all this…" she waved vaguely at the depression Ranma had made, "to energy, you converted most of it into Shen, and then into Ching. Currently, regardless of your other form, you could live for hundreds of years even if you had sex ten times a day, and thought of nothing else." Ranma blushed like a neon sign at the suggestion. "So having a normal sex-drive would allow you to live for at least a thousand years."

"Wah? You mean I'm gonna end up a shriveled old prune hopin' round on a stick?"

"Huh?" it was Rumiko's turn to react intelligently, totally missing the reference.

"Khu Lon, she's like this three hundred – four hundred year old woman who looks just like that." A thousand miles away, said crone was currently waving bye-bye to her two charges who were heading back to China when she sneezed. Dismissing the old wives tale, she thought about the current situation and smiled, Xian Lon would eventually forgive her for sabotaging her attempts at Ranma, Mu Lon already had for some strange reason, and soon enough she'd be in the same place as her Ranma. 'Life's good' she thought as she closed the door and headed for her workroom.

"Well I don't know about that, I think you might have some control over your physical form, I'm not really sure though. That covers your Ching reserves anyway, now for your Shen. Shen is the underlying force that makes magic possible, sorcerers, witches, wizards, alchemists, druids, and many other magical practitioners use Shen in their magical manipulations. They may call it by a different name wherever they come from but essentially it's the same thing. Most of them can't do what you did today though, the conversion of matter into energy is dangerous unless you can control the results, though Kitsune will sometimes convert a small pebble for emergency purposes, the normal manner to amass Shen is to draw it directly from the air hence the term, 'Mana from heaven'. Don't do that now as you have more than enough for the moment." 'And that's an understatement!' she thought

"So are you telling me you could teach me magic?"

"I'm afraid not Ranma, or at least not anything complex."

"Why not, I mean…."

"It's not a matter of want to or not, it's a matter of form and style. I don't know any human magic other than simple cantrips' that both species can use, so I never bothered to learn how to cast the more complex stuff. With Kitsune magic the form factor is reversed, you just aren't equipped to cast Kitsune magic."

"So what would I need to do it?"

"Well a tail helps." Rumiko smirked as Ranma face-planted into the ground. "Kitsune magic isn't as limited as people think. Most people will tell you that the number of tails is an indication of the power of the Kitsune. Well that's not true, my daughter is as powerful or maybe a little more powerful than I am and she only has one tail."

"That can't be right, I mean…"

"Shhh! You think I don't know what I'm talking about? What the tail does signify is the ability of the Kitsune, a one tail can only cast the most basic twenty or so Kitsune spells, though they can cast them all day and night due to their innate power. The position of the tail and consequent movements plus the spell incantation allow the caster to use any given spell, thus if the incantation doesn't match the tail's position then the spell goes phhht, or worse it can go haywire. A simple 'Farsight' spell incantation crossed with the tail position for 'Fireball' may not work at all, or it may drop a fireball on the target you intended to spy on. Messy, but kind of amusing if you were there to see it, from a Kitsune's point of view that is."

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Now a two tailed Kitsune can cast more complex spells, or more powerful versions of the basic one tailed spells that rely on both tails and the incantation. This stops one tailed Kitsune casting spells that they're not mentally prepared for. As an eight tailed Kitsune, I personally can cast for my current level of eight tails and everything below my level, i.e. one through seven. You see why you can't cast Kitsune magic now, don't you?"

"Yeah, but it sucks. Where am I gonna find someone to teach me human type magic?"

"Don't worry about that just yet, I'm sure something will come along. You're going to be around for a very long time, so it's not like you have to do everything right now. I'd be more concerned with other things first. Like how close you came to destroying this island and possibly the planet." Now she had the undivided attention of the four people with her.

"Maybe you'd better explain that to us Rumiko-sama."

"In 1945, the Americans dropped less than a gram of uranium on one Japanese city and six kilograms of plutonium on another and destroyed both cities. Nagasaki and Hiroshima live on as reminders of those weapons. Kanakita wouldn't have. You converted roughly thirty thousand cubic metres of soil and rock into pure energy, right here. The problem is, you did this in ignorance, if you had of panicked, then I think that Kanakita would be on the bottom of the ocean by now. That's only coincidental though. The other side effects of what you did would have been more catastrophic."

"Don't you think that's a little dramatic, to just announce something like that?" Nosaku said, not really wanting to butt into their conversation but feeling the need to lighten Ranma's load.

"No. You know what Kanakita is don't you? It's the core of an extinct volcano after the rest was washed away by the ocean. A very large pillar of very hard dense rock sitting over a thin part of the earths crust, much like a nail sticking in a piece of wood. We could give Ranma here the nickname 'Hammer', well we could if you could say it in the micro-seconds before everything with-in a thousand miles was vaporized. That explosion would drive this plinth of rock, that's fifteen miles across and eight thousand feet long into the planets core. What kind of shock-wave do you think that would create? Oh and just to make sure, there's always a thousand mile wide sphere of explosive energy ripping a hole in the atmosphere to consider. Either way I think if Ranma here had fought the instincts that converted the energy into Shen and Ching then there would only be a few people who'd survive the accident, and they are the Phoenix, oh and the Kami and Demons of course. Not even Dragons could survive such an explosion or exposure to the vacuum of space."

"Kami! You make me sound like some kind of monster!" Ranma was mentally reeling from the information on how close she'd come to ending all life on the planet. Could she really have? She didn't know enough to argue the point with Rumiko, but she knew she surely wouldn't have done it intentionally

"No, not a monster, just ignorant. I can help you with that ignorance by teaching you how to safely convert ki into Shen. You can garner all you need from the atmosphere without having to resort to the conversion of matter into energy. Not that you need to for some time to come. I can also teach you to use your Shen to trigger existing spells or curses." She stopped to let that thought penetrate.

"You can teach me to change without water?" jumping to a correct assumption for once, "Whoa that'd be so cool, never gonna have to fear water again. Hey! If you can teach me how to do that then maybe you could…?" Ranma trailed off as he saw the Kitsune shaking her head.

"I wish I could help you there Ranma, I truly do, but the magic involved is too complex for me to unravel. Not to mention how dangerous it could be, if the curse breaks the wrong way it could kill the both of us."

"Well if I'm a Phoenix I don't have a problem with dieing right? I mean you could teach me everything I need to know and I could do it myself."

"While it's true you could possibly do it yourself, there're two things you need to consider."

"Like what?"

"The first is that to learn how to break the curse could take hundreds of years. Like I said it's very complex. The other is that if you make a mistake it may not kill you at all, it might lock you into your female form for the rest of eternity. It'd be much safer if you waited until the curse ran its natural course."

"That ain't an option Rumiko-sama, there's gotta be another way."

"Weeeel, I suppose there are a few ways that it can be done…Hmmm, nothing in the human realm of magic can touch something this strong, so that's out. Anyone who tells you they have a cure for you is lying. Using an opposing curse won't help either as the curses overlay each other, you could end up part man and part woman." Ranma shuddered at that possibility but really wasn't surprised; she'd thought that might be the case when Pantyhose Taro had returned with tentacles attached to his back.

"Alright, that's the things that won't work. Now let's try the things that will please."

"Right, well the easiest way to cure a curse like this is to die, not really much of an option unless you're say, oh, a Phoenix. Don't get too excited, there are drawbacks to that approach, the main one being that after you hatch you'll be an infant, you will grow rapidly but it could take six or seven years to return you to your present age. Of course you'd still have all of your knowledge at your fingertips."

"Okay, I'll keep that one in mind though if it's all the same to ya?"

"Go ahead, erm, like I was saying, the next is to wait for the embedded timer in the curse to expire and thus free you. That'll take a couple of centuries since the magic of your particular curse was so strong to begin with. The problem here is that you already said you don't want to wait. Moving on, third on the list is the destruction of the curse site, right down to the bedrock, of course you'd have to also destroy anything attached to the springs such as the source of the cursed water, and any other curse victims that are still alive. From what I saw of your nature while spirit walking I'd have to say it's very unlikely that you'd go around killing people just to get a cure."

"Too damn right! It was hard enough killing that maniac Saffron an' there ain't no way I'm gonna go around killing anyone for something like that. So are there any other options?"

"Just two more, but I'll warn you right now they're even unlikelier to happen than you trying out the last one I told you."

"Yeah, well tell me what they are an' we'll see."

"The next is that you find the Kami or Demon that created the curse in the first place and plead for a cure. That's unlikely for two reasons, the first of which is that the Kami tend to be contrary with things like curses considering there must be a reason for you to be cursed in the first place, while a Demon would just enjoy watching you beg and suffer. The other reason it's so unlikely is that the Kami and Demons retreated from the Earth Plane except for brief visits from time to time to renew the humans' belief in them."

"Yeah, well that might be true but I think that they might be comin' back, since I saw two of 'em yesterday in Okinawa." Ranma replied smugly.

"If that's true then the likelihood of getting a cure that way moved up to your third choice, thought I still think they'd be contrary about it." Rumiko allowed her voice to trail off as she considered telling him what the last option was.

"What's the last option then, you said there were two more?"

"Yes, there are, but I don't think you really want to know. The odds of it working are actually ridiculously low, of course if you matured into your Phoenix form for a few thousand years you might be able to pull it off….."

"Would ya just spit it out already?" Ranma asked in a frustrated voice.

"The last one is to kill the originator of the curse." The rest of the group gasped, if they'd understood the information they'd just received it would require the death of a deity. Ranma just stared at her blankly for a moment before turning away.

"So that's it huh? Wait it out or kill a God or lots of people who're just cursed like me? Damn it! Can't I ever catch a break?"

"Hold on a moment Ranma, you're looking at this as an all or nothing proposition. Your major problem with the curse seems that you have no idea 'when' you're going to be what. The thing is, Rumiko-sama here has offered you a way to control that chaos in your life."

Ranma walked along still sulking for a moment before what Kaoru had just said finally sank in. "Yeah, I suppose that's true. It's definitely better than the way things are at the moment. So when do we start sensei?" She might not have liked their introduction, but anyone who'd give her control of her life like that couldn't be all bad.

"Right after I finish explaining what happened to the rest of that energy you converted."

"You already said all that."

"Actually I kind of got sidetracked with talking about what would have happened if you had lost control of it all. Now, once your instincts figured out there was way too much energy for your body to handle, it went looking for some way to shed energy safely. You have, of course noticed that you're taller, broader in the shoulders and the like, haven't you?"

"Well yeah, it's pretty hard to miss. I ain't used to looking down at people when I'm a girl. It's been freaking me out a little. So you're saying that the energy did this to me?"

"When the Shen combined with Ching, it sought to heal the damage done to you through poor diet and repeated damage when you were young. Doing that still didn't use nearly enough energy so you looked for more things to heal, all of your old scars are gone, though it left your calluses alone for some reason. The tree overhanging the hole you made was regenerated, or didn't you notice that there was a great big hole where you converted everything to energy and then there were tree roots sticking out into the hole?" she didn't wait for a reply before moving on, "Then you tried to dump energy back into the world safely. It didn't work, all you did was knock out every magical creature on the island before you managed to shunt the energy into your Phoenix form."

"Er yeah," Ranma scratched the back of her neck, "sorry about that," she murmured sheepishly. Ranma stopped walking and stared at Rumiko's back as she passed as something the fox-lady had said penetrated.

"Hey you said I shunted the energy into my Phoenix form? Wha'd ya mean by that? Are you saying I can change into a Phoenix or something?"

"No, you don't have a Phoenix form, at least not yet. You haven't met certain requirements. You remember I said I had to ask my lord some things?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"I wanted to find out about Saffron's history, from before he was a Phoenix. That can wait for the moment though. I have a theory about you and Saffron, but remember it's only a theory. I've never met Saffron, but once you attain a certain sensitivity you can't help but feel the way he warps the world around him, similar to the way you're starting to."

"Huh? Warping in what way?"

"It's hard to explain, but think of it as a presence, you don't actually warp the world but more like the energy that flows around the planet. Now given that Saffron has been around for thousands upon thousands of years you'd have to wonder why he isn't very powerful."

"Okay, that's it! That bastard nearly killed me an' everyone with me and you say he ain't powerful?"

"No he isn't. Not in terms of Phoenix. I mean you haven't even hatched yet and you're stronger than he is."

"Heh, I coulda told you that."

"You don't understand, it shouldn't be possible for an un-hatched Phoenix to be stronger than one that's been around for more than three thousand years." She looked up to see if Ranma was following her so far and found a blank stare of incomprehension, "I can see I'm going to have to explain about Phoenix. What are they teaching in school these days? Alright Phoenix studies 101, Phoenix have no physical form. They are a creature composed of energy, given that they have no physical bodies they are vulnerable to certain types of attack. To counteract this vulnerability they join with a powerful physical entity, be it animal or sentient. If the creature they bond with is animal, it must be very strong, eventually over the course of thousands of years that beast will undergo a rapid evolution to a sentient state that they might not have attained for millions of years, if ever.

Now if they join with a powerful sentient being they develop that creature's potential both mentally and physically. Regarding that fact Saffron has had more than three thousand years to develop any hidden potential and you beat him as a human? All I can say is he must have been very lucky to have beaten whatever Phoenix host he gained his symbiont from."

"What's beating a Phoenix got to do with it, and what's a symbiont?"

"A symbiont is a creature that joins with another as a team, where both garner some kind of benefit. For the Phoenix it's defence of its weak spots, for the host it's the development of latent ability. Phoenix multiply very slowly for one reason. The Phoenix host must be defeated in combat, when that happens the Phoenix splits a part of itself off and embeds it in the victor where it matures into another Phoenix and hatches, where it does for the victor what its parent did for the loser."

"So you're saying that when I beat Saffron I got one of those Phoenix in me? Eeeeeeew!"

"That's correct, and when the Phoenix finally finishes melding with you, your power is going to skyrocket. You may even develop new skills, such as psyonics, though I don't make any promises."

"Oh great! It's hard enough now to find sparring partners, who am I gonna spar with if I'm even stronger? As for that psyonics, whatever that is, how'm I gonna learn that along with magic?"

"Well unlike the magic, I would be able to help you with the mental discipline needed to use your mind as a weapon. Psyonics covers such abilities as telepathy, telekinesis, teleportation and a plethora of others. I don't know about all of them but I can direct you to several of my friends who can teach you if they do develop. Okay, now that we've got the basics covered it's time to move on. What is a true Phoenix and what isn't? First up, whatever that was attached to….what's his name's head wasn't a Phoenix, in no way shape or form, neither is Saffron, well at least not a full blooded Phoenix. That leaves you as one of the only two true Phoenix I know. The other is a general of the Celestial armies of the East and under the command of Pak Tai, the Dark Emperor of the North."

"I know that name, he was one of the Kami I met yesterday."

"Oh, how coincidental," she said quirking an eyebrow to inviter further comment.

"Hah! Ain't no such thing as coincidence where I'm concerned."

"Possibly true, but from what I can see, you've got bigger fish to fry than wondering why a Kami chose to get involved in your life."

"You think?"

"Well, at the moment there's a large chance that some dispossessed spirit may choose to take over your body," she paused for a moment to let that sink in, "When I first saw you, I thought it would be unlikely while you were here on Kanakita, but since I discovered you're a Phoenix I feel the danger of it has escalated. Trust me when I say that nothing with any spiritual power missed that flash of energy you released a little while ago."

"So what do I do? I mean, I can't exactly fight something I can't hit can I?"

"Stupid! Of course you can, all I've got to do is fix that big gaping hole in your defences."

"Hey I ain't got no holes in my defence." Ranma blustered

"Speaking in a strictly physical sense that might be right, but on the mental plane you're wide open. Anything that wanted a new body and a powerful one at that need only attack your psyche and you'd be a dispossessed spirit. I'm guessing that's not something you want to have happen?"

"So I do what?"

"You let me teach you some simple shielding techniques, a detection against evil cantrip, which is completely verbal and then I don't have to worry about waking up one morning in the middle of an energy inferno because some rampaging spirit finally got a body."

"Well sign me up. Ain't no way I'm gonna miss someone givin' out free techniques. The way I learn things it shouldn't take long either. But what was that thing you called a 'cantrip'. It was 'cantrip' right?"

"It was indeed. A cantrip is a small spell, merely a few syllables to focus the mind so it expends Shen in the desired way. I was going to mention it earlier but kind of got distracted."

"Spell? Like, magic spell?"

"Yes, of course it's about the only kind of magic I can teach you. Simple cantrips are all that human and Kitsune magic have in common."

"Magic? Cool." Ranma wasn't really one to use the modern vernacular but in this case it was the only word that seemed to fit. Now after all this time of being on the receiving end of magic, he had the ability to use it himself.

"Don't get too cocky boy, magic can exact its own price if you take it for granted or don't concentrate properly."

"Yeah, an' don't everything else I ever did?"

"Yes, but not concentrating while throwing a punch isn't likely to incinerate someone, or turn you into a frog."

"Eh? That ain't possible is it?"

"Says the boy who turns into a girl. I grant you it isn't probable, but I assure you that all kinds of chaotic things can happen when you don't pay attention to magic."

"So like which is it? Shen or Magic?"

"In truth they mean the same thing. One is the Western word and the other is the Chinese word. There are many other words for it as well. Shen is also the type of energy used to perform magic."

"Right, an I've got lots of it?"

"Well yes, if it were my reserve I don't think I'd have to generate Shen for several hundred years, and that's if I cast spells indiscriminately the whole time."

"Alright! When do we start?" Ranma enthused just before her stomach betrayed her with a low squeaking growl of discontent that reminded her she hadn't done anything to relieve her hunger since waking up in the infirmary.

"Hmm, on that note," a chuckling Nosaku said, "I'd better head back to the house, there are things I need to attend to tomorrow. Are you coming Kaoru?"

"Certainly, a nice stroll in the early evening would be nice." She placed a hand on the proffered elbow, allowing the clans leader to escort her home.

Rumiko called out after them, "Don't take too long you two. It's going to rain in the next couple of hours." Ranma perked up at that pronouncement; taking a deep breath she caught just the faintest whiff of an earthy tang in the air. It had always been one of her favourite things when they'd been on the road since it brought a sense of renewal with it and the rain that followed close on its heels washed the world clean and bright. Ranma sighed as she remembered the first time it rained after she'd gained the curse and she realized it would trigger her hated transformation. Now for the first time she thought that she might be able to enjoy it once again.

"So, you coming Rumiko-sensei?"

"Not this night Ranma, I have to move my daughter into our lair before the rain starts. I shall see you in the morning, probably at the break of dawn, meet me in front of the Academy."

"Er… okay, so we gonna train in some of those things ya mentioned?"

"Yes, I'll start on your mental defenses and we'll work from there. Don't worry about it for the evening though, I'll hold a shield over you so nothing can take advantage of your situation."

"Right, so I'll see you in the morning, I'm gonna catch me some dinner while it's still early." Ranma wasn't expecting a reply from the older lady and so turned on her heel and headed for the place she was starting to think of vaguely as home.

/ Somewhere? \

The mountain air was cold wherever he happened to be this time, the afternoon sun had slid behind the bulk of a dark mountain and the world around him was turned into one of gloom. The temperature wasn't what was bothering the wanderer though, it was more the fact that for the first time he felt like he'd made some progress in his life. For an infinitesimal moment he had felt the depression lift by just the slightest amount, like a man looking upon the night sky as the dawn began, just the barest change in the light but telling all the same.

"Damn it Ranma! Why does this always happen!" the word 'happen' echoed off the side of the nearby mountains, mocking him with his inability to do anything or even answer his own question. The rubble around his feet gave mute testament to his distress at the situation as he struck another boulder with the Bakusai Tenketsu and watched in satisfaction as the boulder shattered, spraying the area beyond him with thousands of shards of rock. An hour and a large amount of gravel later, Ryoga Hibiki collapsed in exhaustion and began to shiver in reaction to the energy loss. The problem was that he was currently as drained as if he'd thrown a Shi Shi Hokoudan that never returned to him.

"Damn it!" he whispered hoarsely, as he remembered Ranma's dire threat of what she'd do to him if he disappeared on her. 'Heh! Well this is another fine pickle I've gotten myself into, and I don't think 'I'm sorry,' is gonna cut it, not this time. Think Hibiki.' Ryoga's brow scrunched up as he thought about the current situation, his hands busy with making a quick meal before he set up the rest of his camp. With the practiced ease of a long time camper he was finished in minutes with the tent and sat back down to think as his meal finished cooking..

The only conclusion he could come to at the moment was that Ranma wanted him to practice the techniques that she'd taught him. In truth, he could do that here as well as anywhere else on the planet. After he finished his meal he moved away from the tent afraid that his aura might damage it in some way. He sat in the lotus position he'd used earlier in the day and began to renew the breathing exercises that he'd been shown, a moment after that he was able to manifest an aura that fluctuated between a clean and pure white and the green of his usual depression ki that lit the darkness for many metres around him. It also had the added bonus that the energy traveling through his body caused him to warm up.

In a display of pure pig-headedness he continued to cycle his aura, watching as its colour gradually changed. As the sun finally sank below the horizon somewhere beyond the mountain range, ending the odd twilight world and bringing true night. Ryoga didn't notice the changes in the world, the precipitous temperature drop didn't affect him in the least, the locals coming to investigate the glow came within sight of him and skittered away at the sight of the strange glowing beast, but he didn't care as they were no threat to him. Somewhere beyond the mountains the day began anew, the sun rising majestically over the horizon lighting the world with its warm rays, several hours later it would cast its first warming rays into the valley where Ryoga was meditating, it would be the first thing to penetrate his intense concentration. An hour later, a curiously lighter feeling Ryoga trudged away from his overnight accommodation, knowing that his emotions were happier than he could remember. Looking around, he took his bearings, straightened his shoulders as he strode boldly forth and promptly vanished as he rounded a boulder.

/ Nerima \

Khu Lon, elder and matriarch of her tribe closed and locked the door to her private domain. No one and nothing could be allowed to observe or interfere with her actions here. Not that it would do them any good since to step into this room while the spell was active would be a death sentence but in Nerima it didn't pay to take chances. There were always the foolhardy who would attempt to throw the dice of chance. She smirked a particularly nasty grin as she walked into the centre of the room, it'd serve them right, not that they'd get past the traps at the top of the stairs, or the ones on the ceiling and the walls.

She was about to relax into a sitting position on the floor when she remembered something and trudged over to her work desk. First she placed her staff on the table, an act that felt like she was losing a long time friend she'd had the thing for so long. Then she shucked her robe and folded it as she shivered in the slightly chill room. The mirror across the room showed her diminutive form as she walked back to her place in the circle, she saluted the withered and wrinkled body as if bidding it a fond farewell since it had served her so well for so long.

Sitting down facing the south she began the ritual, she ignited her battle aura with pure ki and allowed it to expand over the entirety of the circles. There was no going back now, it was consume or be consumed, her endurance would either outlast the spell or the spell would unravel her essence and spread it across the room, either way she felt she'd lived long enough as she was. At least this offered her a chance at a new start.

She focused on the first of the runes she'd need to imbue with Shen and Ching, tracing it with her eyes as she focused the needed energy and let it flow, the outline of the rune began to glow until it became almost blinding to look at. A bead of sweat formed on her forehead and rolled down her nose. It would soon to be joined by others as sweat formed all over her body, she cringed slightly as the circles of runes spun like the wheels on a one arm bandit, pulling a stream of energy from her body like a string and overlaying certain runes on the circles.

Suddenly, the whole blurring mess clicked into a new configuration and she searched briefly for the new rune she needed to activate, there, and the whole thing started to move again, the second string of Shen and Ching overlaying the first and activating a series of different runes. Now the first visible sign of the spell working happened, her skin began to smooth out, not because it was tightening up but because her very bones were being broken down for raw materials to extend them. Where before they were dense and compacted calcium, they once again became a lattice, a very fine and brittle lattice but that would be fixed later, first she had to fight against the excruciating pain that wracked her body. She couldn't falter now; the third rune was activated as she panted in reaction to the pain and the circles spun and twisted like before, only twenty eight runes to go.

With twenty runes to go she was a mass of pain, it contorted her face, but she wouldn't give in to it, she was a matriarch, a proud warrior, this would not defeat her. And so the long hours wound down as the spell spun and weaved streamers of energy in intricate patterns, criss-crossing each other repeatedly. With eight runes to go she lost the fight against the pain and screamed a long drawn out sound that echoed, and echoed again as her back arched, through sheer strength of will she suppressed it and activated the next rune. It wouldn't be the last time she screamed that night.

Midnight was a distant memory as her blurred sight sought the final rune, to her it seemed like she was looking at the circle through an intense heat haze as they wavered and danced before her. Now she needed luck as much as anything else since the rune she activated may not be the one she was aiming for, she suppressed the sudden wave of fear as she was so close. Like a snake she struck as the circles seemed to still for a moment and then sighed in relief as the circles spun one last time, if she'd missed with that much power laced into the spell, there was no telling what would happen when it unravelled. All she knew was that it would have been messy and the last thing she ever did. She closed her eyes and waited the final movements of the spell, and so didn't notice that the stream of energy overlay a small mark amongst the perfectly formed runes, neither did she see it flare for the briefest milli-second as a cascade of Shen lit the ancient spell.

Twenty seven minutes later the Amazon warrior Khu Lon carefully straightened her body as she prepared to stand, almost in slow motion she rose and made her way towards the bath tub in which the next phase of the spell rested. It wasn't something she was looking forward to doing as to lay in that viscous liquid while she waited for her body to absorb the vitamins, minerals and other materials needed to complete the body that had been formed out of her diminutive ancient frame. She moved slowly and carefully as she approached the tub and sat down on the cold porcelain and then started to lower herself slowly. In her weakened condition she couldn't support even this miniscule weight and slipped into the bath in an uncontrolled tumble even gasping a lungful of the liquid as it closed over her shocked head. She surfaced a second later coughing and sputtering as the gelatinous mess dripped from her bangs and down her face.

According to her calculations, not that she'd ever done anything like this before, it would take several hours for her body to rebuild itself to her former stature. Over that time the level of the concoction would drop by eight or nine inches until it barely covered her body. In her exhaustion, she dozed as the spell completed the last step of her transformation until the timer went off and jolted her back to an awareness of her surroundings.

"Hmmm, must of dozed off." Khu Lon frowned slightly as she heard the sound of her own voice; she didn't remember ever sounding like that. With a sinking feeling she rose from the bath and stood with the pale liquid sheeting down her body, taking a glance at the full length mirror across the room she started to swear, long loud and fluently in at least eight different languages.

Khu Lon scraped his hands down his body and glared, this wasn't supposed to happen, it wasn't even in the realms of the possible.

"I've got to figure out what went wrong." She muttered as she regarded the still slightly glowing form of the spell circle, nothing seemed to be out of place…except for that small chalk mark.

"How the hell did I miss that?" His mind whirled in confusion, he'd checked the spell over and over and didn't see anything that blatant.

That left only the one question in her mind, unlike many people she knew the progenitor of the 'Pools of Sorrow' so she knew who to blame for this.

"Why Asgaroth, how have I angered you?" Khu Lon, Amazon warrior, Lore Keeper and currently male sat down on the floor as reaction to her newly placed curse sank in.

/ \

A/N in case you missed the one at the front of the document. Please review constructively, even if it's bad I can use it to improve. Well as long as I agree that is. This was proof-read by Brindani and I thank that masked proof-reader for their timely assistance in making this readable.


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